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Collective Identity and Despotism: Lessons in Two Plays by Bahram Beyzaie
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Abstract
With an overview of identity as a dominant theme in Bahram Beyzaie's artistic creations, this article examines two of his, arguably, most political plays: Chahar Sanduq (Four Boxes, 1967) and Khaterat-e Honarpisheh-ye Naqsh-e Dovvom (Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role, 1981) to examine his reflections on the nature, function, and vulnerability of collective social, political, and cultural identity in authoritarian societies. Both plays illustrate that the tyrannical rulers of such societies perpetuate their dominance over their subjects through exploiting the individual's self-interests, thereby isolating him and stripping him of collective and, inevitably, individual identity. Beyzaie's allegorical and rather abstract approach in these plays contributes to conveying a less topical, culture-specific, and more universal message.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Iranian Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 5: Special Issue: Bahram Beyzaie's Cinema and Theater , September 2013 , pp. 753 - 764
- Copyright
- Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2013
References
1 For a brief discussion of Beyzaie's concern with identity in his work, see Ali Amini-Najaf, “Bahram Beyzaie, Beh Donbal-e Hoviyat-e Gomshodeh,” in Rava va Narava dar Sinema-ye Iran. No publication information on this book is available, but the article can be found at http://zamaaneh.com/radiocity/2010/10/post_627.html (accessed May 5, 2010). See also Beyzaie's interview in Dabashi, Hamid, “The Sight of the Invisible World: The Cinema of Bahram Beyzaie,” Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present and Future (London and New York, 2001), 76–91.Google Scholar
2 Reviews of this play are reprinted in Jamshidi, Esma'il, Hasan Moqaddam va Ja'far Khan az Farang Amadeh, Tehran, 1979).Google Scholar An English translation of this play by Maryam Shariati is scheduled for publication in 2012.
3 For a study of identity in Golshiri's work, see Farkhondeh Shayesteh, “Identity in Golshiri's Works: An Examination of Ayenehha-ye Dardar” (PhD diss., University of Texas, 2011).
4 Beyzaie himself says: “I have no claim to teach anyone anything.” See Dabashi, “The Sight of,” 86.
5 For an analysis of this play in the context of the historical and political events of these decades, see Hashemi, Afshin, “Chahar Sanduq dar Partov-e Ruydadha-ye Tarikhi-ye Iran (Dahehha-ye Bist ta Chehel),” in Simia: Vizhehnameh-ye Bahram Beyzaie, ed. Amjad, Hamid, Series 2, No. 2 (Zemestan, 1386), 99–117.Google Scholar
6 According to Mostafa Osku'i, in Four Boxes, Beyzaie uses the format of traditional Iranian “Takhteh Howzi” plays. See Osku'i, Mostafa, Pazhuheshi dar Tarikh-e Te'atr-e Iran (Moscow, 1992), 282.Google Scholar Beyzaie himself describes a popular form of traditional plays for joyful occasions called “chahar sanduq” in which, similar to this play, stock characters dressed in different colors pop out of four boxes and engage in entertaining banter and dance. Regarding the origins of the “chahar sanduq” performances, after a description of traveling entertainment troupes during the Safavid rule that performed music and dance as well as taqlid, or mimicry, usually imitating the dialects of various regions or cities and making fun of them, Beyzaie writes:
Towards the end of the Safavid dynasty and then during the Zand dynasty, the musical entertainment and mimicry troupes settled down in some cities, in particular, Isfahan and Shiraz. Their hangouts were some of the teahouses where sometimes they put on a show, and sometimes they were invited to the homes of the middle or lower classes to provide entertainment for wedding, baby naming, circumcision, and other celebrations. It was in such gatherings that the troupes gradually embellished their dances and mimicry with variety and color. We know that players would change their style of performance depending on the audience, and this change in style and searching for new ways to keep the audience entertained resulted in the further development and innovations in taqlid. One of the changes initially created in dancing was that four dancers dressed in red, yellow, blue, and violet would hide ahead of time in four boxes that were carried and placed in the staging area. A little later, in the midst of the excitement of the audience and joyful music, the lids of the boxes would open one-by-one and the dancers would come out, first performing a collective dance and then solo dances, followed by different types of dances, which lasted until late in the night. Then they would return to the boxes, which were carried away by porters. Apparently, the idea of creating this type of dance was not altogether unrelated to puppets popping in and out of boxes in puppet shows. In any case, this type of dance was very popular and sometime later, in a different form and with a different name, called “chahar sanduq,” found its way into taqlid performances, the difference being that the dancer in violet was replaced with a new character, “Black.”
In his play, Beyzaie uses this form, with some changes. See Beyzaie, , Namayesh dar Iran (Tehran, 1965), 169–70.Google Scholar
7 See Ghanoonparvar, M.R., “Persian Plays and the Iranian Theater,” in Colors of Enchantment: Theater, Dance, Music, and the Visual Arts of the Middle East, ed. Zuhur, Sherifa (Cairo, 2001), 87–106.Google Scholar
8 Four Boxes, translated by Ghanoonparvar, M.R. in Iranian Drama: An Anthology (Costa Mesa, CA, 1989), 183.Google Scholar All translated segments of the play indicated by page numbers in this article are from this translation.
9 One critic observes that in Beyzaie's earlier plays, “Lengthy dialogues at times result in static scenes that are not very effective dramatically.” See Kapuscinski, Gisèle, “Modern Persian Drama,” in Persian Literature, ed. Yarshater, Ehsan (New York, 1988), 381–402.Google Scholar In contrast and in keeping with the “Ruhowzi” or Takhteh Howzi” traditional performances, in Four Boxes, the dialogues often consist of very short sentences, sometimes a few words, and the pace is extremely fast. This aspect of the play is also significant in its contribution to the general theme.
10 Utilizing some of the techniques commonly used in cinema and modern novels in combination with traditional dramatic modes of performance, in this play Beyzaie experiments with dramatic narrative. On many occasions, Mowhebat's flashbacks, which are presented as soliloquies, are dramatized on stage simultaneously with a scene in the past, thereby shifting the narrative time back and forth between past and present.
11 Although unlike in many of his other plays, in this play Beyzaie does not use traditional stock character names that represent archetypal figures, the names of the characters should be regarded as significant: Davalpa is a mythical desert creature who grabs and rides people; Khadang commonly means “arrow” and “mongoose”; Maher means “skilled”; Mowhebat” means “gift” or “blessing”; Zolfaqar, other than the specific name of Imam Ali's sword, figuratively means “sword”; and Majnun signifies not only the crazed lover in literature but also “mad.”
12 See Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role, trans. Ghanoonparvar, M.R. (Costa Mesa, CA, 2010), 112.Google Scholar All translated segments of this play indicated by page numbers in this article are from this translation.
13 Four Boxes has been staged several times in the United States and Canada, including a 1999 production as Devil Box Cabaret by Neworld Theatre and Farrokh Asadi's production in Columbia, South Carolina in 1993 and in Chicago in 2009. According to Asadi's biographical note on the website of The Epic Players, he was given permission by Beyzaie to stage Four Boxes in Tehran in 1968, but “the production was banned by the government.” Regarding the staging of Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role, Beyzaie says in his notes on the page following the title page: “In summer 1979, during a short opportunity […] this writer tried to use the sketch of this play as the basis for a spontaneous collective work of players. The players, however, were busy playing on other stages.”