© Benjamin Krieg
Blind Runner
Amir Reza Koohestani – Mehr Theatre Group
A woman in prison in Iran asks her husband to help a girl blinded during a demonstration to run a marathon. This leads to a risky plan to travel to England through the Channel Tunnel, which involves covering 27 kilometers in just a few hours and risking being hit by the first morning train.
Now, following his dazzling debut at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, Amir Reza Koohestani, among the greatest Iranian theater makers of his generation, returns to Triennale Milano with the Italian premiere of Blind Runner. Koohestani recounts his country through the thoughts and dialogue of a man and woman on the run in this free, poetic play that leaves space for the spectator to create, to interpret, to feel.
Born in Iran in 1978, Amir Reza Koohestani is recognized as one of the most important directors and playwrights in Iran today. After studying in Manchester, he returned to Tehran, where his works played a major role in an Iranian theater revival movement.
After a brief experience as an actor, he turned to writing plays, including the much-acclaimed The Murmuring Tales (2000). In 2001, he founded the Mehr Theatre Group in Tehran. The company’s first performance, Dance on Glasses, brought Koohestani international recognition. In 2012, his film Modest Reception, with script written in collaboration with Mani Haghighi, won the NETPAC Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Over the last fifteen years, Koohestani’s work has been presented in many European nations. His texts, known for their poetic style, use symbolism and a critical eye to explore the daily life of people imprisoned within the confusion of their environment.
Info
Running time 60’
Performance in Persian with surtitles in Italian and English. The surtitles include information for people with hearing disabilities
Credits
text, direction: Amir Reza Koohestani
dramaturgy: Samaneh Ahmadian
director’s assistant: Dariush Faezi
lights, scenography: Éric Soyer
video: Yasi Moradi, Benjamin Krieg
music: Phillip Hohenwarter, Matthias Peyker
costumes: Negar Nobakht Foghani
performers: Ainaz Azarhoush, Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh
English translation and surtitles adaptation: Massoumeh Lahidji
surtitles operator: Negar Nobakht Foghani
production, administration, promotion: Pierre Reis – Bureau Formart (Paris)
logistics, communication assistant: Yuka Dupleix – Bureau Formart (Paris)
production: Mehr Theatre Group
co-production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Berliner Festspiele, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Théâtre de la Bastille, La rose des vents – Scène nationale Lille Métropole – Villeneuve d’Ascq, La Vignette – Scène conventionnée Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, Théâtre populaire romand – Centre neuchâtelois des arts vivants, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Triennale Milano Teatro, Festival delle Colline Torinesi/Fondazione TPE, Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts & Society
creation residencies: Théâtre populaire romand – Centre neuchâtelois des arts vivants, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Théâtre les Tanneurs, KWP Kunstenwerkplaats Brussels
with the support of: Institut français
project supported by: French Ministry of Culture – DRAC Île-de-France
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© Benjamin Krieg
© Benjamin Krieg
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