“Me” Theater Festival Goes Global While Hitting Close to Home Germany
TEHRAN (Iranart) – Jafar Mahyari says there will be a special program for Iranian theater groups at the second annual theater festival of “Me” in Germany.
Presided over by Mahyari, the first festival was held in the German city of Wurzburg on June 1-6. The idea is to promote plays that are creative. The festival hosted several private theater companies. The following is a brief interview with Mahyari over future prospects of the festival.
How did you organize the festival? Are you satisfied with its original goals?
No doubt about it. We wanted to hold the first annual event quietly, and we did. We also wanted to find out its weaknesses and strengths. We wanted to know what else we could to do to make it much more popular. We managed to pull it off and all participants were happy to be part of it.
Our priority was to create a friendly atmosphere between audiences and organizers. We wanted to get as many theater companies as possible to attend. The good news is that they did perform their plays during the week-long event and they all left truly satisfied.
How did Germany react to the festival?
Local papers loved it. People over here always welcome popular events like this. This becomes so true when they realize they have a role to play in it as well. The idea was to make others feel like at home, that they are the true owners of the festival. The name “Me” speaks for itself. Some had a small role to play in it like buying tickets. Reception was good and we got all the help we could get from the municipality and the youth organization of the city of Wurzburg.
Are there more editions and will you be still presiding over?
Yes. The mayor visited the festival and watched some of the plays. He was truly satisfied with the whole procedure. He said he would support the future editions as well. I will be presiding over the annual event but it will be run by a German company.
What are trying to achieve next year?
We invited five companies for the first edition. This made it easier to weigh our needs and identify our shortages. In the next edition there will be more plays and certainly more companies participating. Since reception was overwhelming, there will be cultural weeks as well, even film screening and music concerts. There will be an Iranian cultural week with film screening and music concerts.
What are the criteria for selection of plays?
We favor group plays and theater companies whose works have gone on stage. Of course, quality is still important criteria that cannot be overlooked. The priority is to invite those who are known to the industry and have standard plays. We will give them space and the means to perform. Those who perform will get paid.
Any program for Iranian theater groups?
Of course. This was initially supposed to be an Iranian theater festival. We also wanted to have a similar German event in Tehran. Because of financial restrictions we couldn’t do it. So we made it an international event in Germany. There will still be some space for Iranian plays. This year I will be watching some Iranian plays to select the top ones for the second “Me” edition.
No one knows for sure. In fact, one of the main problems we When will that be?
have is the festival’s timing. This is a time when the whole country is on holiday. This is not a suitable season to hold a festival. We might push the schedule a bit further ahead to solve the problem.
Is this a German only festival?
We plan to gradually hold the event in different countries. For the time being, though, it will stay in Germany. The dramatic line of the festival is friendship, relationship and cultural interaction. Its future name would be “We” as it continues to grow and expand. Top works of “Me” will also go on stage at the bigger event of “We”. It will be held in different cities and countries the world over.