Intl. children’s theater festival opens in western Iran

TEHRAN,Nov.8 (MNA) -- The 18th International Theater Festival for Children and Young Adults opened in the central western Iranian city of Hamedan on Sunday. The organizers held a parade of giant puppets of Iranian theater characters on the street leading to the Payam Hall, which hosted the opening ceremony of the festival. Troupes from Italy, Norway, Germany and several other countries are participating in the six-day event. The international competition jury includes Reza Babak (actor/director), Qotbeddin Sadeqi (actor/director) Ardeshir Salehpur (theater scholar) from Iran and Cologn’s Comedia Theater artistic director Jutta Maria Staerk and an Italian theater expert. The Persian version of “Making a Drama out of a Crisis” by British actor and children’s writer Tommy Donbavand will be unveiled during the event. The organizers also plan to unveil “A Door towards the Children’s Literature”, a book comprising 63 plays written by Davud Kianian.