“The Star-Spangled Girl” coming to Tehran center

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- A reading performance of American playwright Neil Simon’s comedy “The Star-Spangled Girl” will be held at Tehran’s Niavaran Cultural Center on Friday.

Nasrin Sezavar is the producer of the reading performance, which will be directed by Iman Mosleh at 6 pm, the center announced on Sunday. 

Translated into Persian by Shahram Zargar, the play will be read by a cast composed of Mohammad Rahmani, Nazanin Tabrizi and Hani Mirbarzegar.

“The Star-Spangled Girl” is a story of a love triangle mixed in with politics, which is set in San Francisco during the 1960s. 

Andy and Norman are roommates and radicals who barely make a living working on their magazine, “Fallout”, which is dedicated to fighting “the system” in America. Sophie, a former Olympic swimmer, is an all-American Southern girl who moves into the apartment next door. What is love at first sight for Norman is not reciprocated. Norman’s obsession with Sophie causes Andy to hire her just to sustain the magazine’s operation. Then Sophie falls for Andy, though they are at odds politically, threatening to destroy the magazine and the men’s friendship.

“The Star-Spangled Girl” has earlier been staged by several Iranian directors.

The latest one was Ashkan Zare who staged the play at Tehran’s Simorq Theater in August 2019.

Director and actor Ruzbeh Shafiei’s troupe also performed the play at Tehran’s Mehregan Theater House in July 2018.

“When I read this play I found it in perfect harmony with my character,” Shafiei said at that time.

“The play is about the people of an intellectual stratum who feel a responsibility toward enlightening ordinary people, but their basic needs thwart their plans to carry out the social duty,” he noted.

source: Tehran Times