Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A) in Social Communication
Abstract
Attention to thematic theaters and their function is an important issue due to their commonness in our country. It seems that the working of such theaters and being in an inflexible and framed format prevents the artist from dealing freely with this strong art and medium and creating creativity in this valley.
This research aims to examine this issue and answer the question whether holding thematic theater festivals has been effective in changing the attitude of directors and writers or not? and the statistical population of this research is writers and directors who are members of the Performing Arts Center of Tehran. This research seeks to answer the main question, to what extent holding thematic festivals has an effect on changing the attitude and worldview of theater writers and directors.
Key words:
Theatre, thematic festivals, writer, director, change of attitude
1-1- Introduction
Since Mirza Fethali Akhundzadeh wrote the first Iranian "drama", Mollah Ibrahim Khalil Kimiagar, in In 1229 AH, five years after the Turkmanchai contract, he wrote (Khalaj, 1381: 17), a new literary genre was born in the literary field of Iran, which has had several productions during more than a century, depending on the ups and downs of the road. This moment of new playwriting in Iran is parallel and consistent with the history of modernity [1]: Mirza Agha Tabrizi and Morteza Qoli Khan Movidal Mamalek also wrote plays before the issuance of the constitutional decree in the Western context. (Baktash, 1356: 13 Since then, according to the political and social conditions of the society, this art has undergone different changes. And in recent decades, theater-themed festivals have become more common in society, and the content of these festivals has changed the artistic community and, accordingly, the audience, and different reactions have been created in this regard. We will not be spared (Kamalipour, 63: 1371).
Since the beginning of the formation of theater in the world, until now, significant progress has been made in various aspects of this art, including playwriting, directing, acting, stage design and so on. It has been achieved and various performance styles and schools have been recorded in different periods. In such a way that the artists of every country, throughout history, have created methods and styles and traditions that are considered treasures and scientific resources for contemporary and future artists. (Nazerzadeh Kermani, 2014, 1367)
The interaction and participation of group members during practice is important, and it is this interaction and participation that causes changes in their behavior and attitude. To these issues, the content and subjects of the theater should be added, and the openness of the writer's or director's and actors' hands to walk in this arena, compared to being free or involved in predetermined formats, innovation, creativity, feelings and the work of the practitioners of this art will also be overshadowed. has shown For example, in the category of psychology, the topic of catharsis[2] is still one of the topics that is still being investigated in academic circles. The public experts and theater theorists are of the opinion that concepts such as psychodrama[3] and dramatherapy[4], which are late sciences in psychology, are rooted in the concept of catharsis: although Nietzsche[5] believes that Aristotle's understanding of the concept of catharsis is more moral, but both he and Aristotle agree on the therapeutic construction of catharsis. (M.S, 1995, 227)
Now it has to be seen if thematic festivals with a high percentage of inflexibility and limitation of the subject they have can take on the real mission of this medium or not.
During the last few centuries, especially when the director officially declared his existence as the most important agent of theater production, the author directors who also theorized, with respect for the aesthetic aspect of theater, have used this art as a possibility and a social tool to modify and change individual and social behaviors. Among the most famous of these people is Bertolt Brecht[6], the late German theater director, whose theory of educational theater was actually a revolutionary theory in the field of theater.
Brecht believed that the important aspect of theater is its awakening and teaching field, which can be used for political and social reforms (Brecht, 1964). Based on this, Brecht considered the audience as his main audience and not those who came to the theater just for pleasure and entertainment. Therefore, his ideas were in opposition to Stanislavski's ideas. In fact, Brecht wanted the audience to think about what he sees on the stage, evaluate it and make a decision about it, and then go out and change the unfortunate conditions he saw there (Holton, 2004, 247). Therefore, the audience should not drown in the process of theater performance and passively enjoy it, but the theater should awaken and inform him, and Brecht's opinion was that such a thing can be done by alienating the events. (ibid. 247).
1-2- Statement of the research problem
Today, theater is not just an art, an art that is the mother of other arts. Rather, it is considered a strong medium that can easily convey small and large concepts to the audience. An immediate and direct message transmission that originates from the language and sense of the actor and has an effect on the audience's ears, heart and eyes and makes him mesmerized by what he sees on the stage.
The art of theater is not limited and exclusive to what happens on the stage and is placed in a specific and defined space in front of the audience, but the process of rehearsing and preparing a show is effective in changing and transforming the personality and behavior of the people of a theater group. This process can sometimes be done with foreknowledge, the coach or director gathers a group with the purpose of influencing behavior, in which case theater is known as a practical and transformative tool and preparation. In this way, theater shows its usefulness regardless of the art that has an aesthetic and generally elitist aspect, and in other words, it is artistic, cultural, intellectual. With this definition, theater, besides being an art with a history of more than 2500 years, has a high place among other arts, it is considered an educational-educational tool whose cultural-intellectual aspect is overshadowed by its practical field. have to present works in a specific framework that day by day with the increasing number of such festivals, the artistic career of an artist is limited to these subject works in which the circle of creativity and diversity is very narrow and prevents the artist from breaking the structure and being ambitious. It seems that with the spread of this issue, the theater becomes a medium that only conveys the official messages of the government and loses its audience. This research aims to examine this issue and answer the question whether or not holding thematic theater festivals has been effective in changing the attitude of directors and writers or not? 1-3- The importance and necessity of research The powerful media of theater can play a major role in improving the process of sending messages to the audience because theater is an art that is a collection of arts such as painting, music, rhythmic movements, etc. and the more the artist is forced to work in a narrow format, the quality of his works gradually decreases and deviates from his main mission.
The art of theater is the art of trial and error, and this work is done to discover the best way to convey the message. Giving subjectivity to festivals and works puts the audience in the flow of the possible message of the show in advance, and the charm and suspense of the work gives way to an unattractive message.
A brief review of recent theater festivals brings the audience to face the fact that artists will gradually act as a platform for the mainstream in this resolved system and structure and will distance themselves from the spirit of the theater.