Akbar Zanjanpour
Audio of the Entire Interview
Interview Transcript
Part 01
I was born on January 21, 1945, in Tehran.
My father was one of the first Iranian specialists in the oil and gas industry.
He knew this field very well and scientifically.
But what connected me and my father culturally and emotionally was his literary and uplifting view of life and literature.
He interpreted Khayyam’s poetry for us.
We lived at Shemiran Street, my father had a friendship with Nima Yoshij
and I also went to see Nima once or twice along with my father and these meetings had a deep Impact on my life.
whether or not, it made me sensitive to social matters. It was important to me.
I am very happy and proud to be the son of this father.
My mother was a housewife and an Iranian mother who was very kind and lovely like the scent of jasmine.
I do not have a brother, but I had 6 sisters,
two of whom have died in 2015 one of my sisters, who was not married and lived here with me,
died in an accident, and I still mourn her.
I got married in 1971, my first daughter was born in 1973,
her name is Goldoneh, she is married and has a daughter named Baran.
My second daughter is Golnoosh, who is not married yet and has a master’s degree in art research,
sometimes teaches photography and knows photography well,
So, I have a son-in-law, two daughters, and a grandchild.
My wife is one of the best chances in my life that she has taken good care of me all these years, literally she is my friend
– What is your earliest childhood memory?
My earliest memory dates back to 1954 when I was 9 years old.
The 27th and 28th of Mordad, (Aug 18 & 19) [28 Mordad’s Coup].
I remember these two days well, but at that time I did not know what those days are.
On that day, I was in Toopkhaneh Square with my mother and aunt, I was a naughty boy!
We stood on the west side of Sepah Square, watching the revolutionaries trying to bring down the statue of Reza Shah.
They were all dressed in white shirt and gray pants and all were uniformed.
At that age, I was a little kid and I remember well that all people were in the same shape. It was summer.
The revolutionaries walked down to Qorkhaneh alley, where my aunt’s house was also there.
They ran to the “Parkeshahr” to bring down another statue, at the same time they chanted the slogan either death or Mossadegh!!
I also ran after them and chanted.
My mother and aunt were shouting and ask people to catch the kid!
They were screaming! finally, people caught me and handed me over to my mother.
The next day, which was August 19th, and we jointed a family party at my aunt’s house,
and in the evening, while we were returning to our house at the end of Shariati Street,
I saw some people on trucks including “Shaban Jafari”, were cursing Mossadegh.
I remember these two different days, one happy and the other sad, and this is my earliest memory I can share with you.
I was a very shy kid, I still sit in a corner and I do not socialize much,
I am more embarrassed, but people think I am arrogant, but this is not true, and I like everyone very much.
I was very isolated kid.
One day my teacher called me and two of my classmates and said,
“Come to school an hour early tomorrow to practice theater!”
I did not know anything about theater, but we were taught,
and I played the role of a student in the classroom.
This was the first time I went on stage and it made me feel good,
it was as if I could talk to others and others could talk to me, it was what I realized at that moment!
This gradually made me interested in social matters.
For example, I encouraged my friends to produce a wall newspaper we named Iran Abad!
The name of our school was Bahram, which was located in the Darous neighborhood.
At that time, I was 12 years old when my father built a house in that place and we settled there.
Little by little, we realized that we could perform a play at school.
Along with one of my classmates, Mr. Bahram Zand,
who is a very good dubbing director and a few others who did not continue the play,
we rehearsed some play and performed on the stage, and that’s how I got into the theater.
At that time, I was going to the theater with my sister and her husband, who is now dead.
– What kind of theaters were they?
Most of the historical plays, such as Khalifa Pooshi, Harun, and Rashid. type of plays which were performed in Lalehzar.
As I got older, in 1965-66, my friends and I went to a hall on Bahar Street called Kasra,
which later became a cinema, now is not any longer exist.
we saw a play called Eugene Grande, which was directed by Davood Rashidi,
and this was the first serious and glorious show that impressed me.
I was following everything on that period I was very active in various matters.
Reading books, plays, and poems became my priority, and this play was one of them.
My favorite childhood game was always fencing,
where we played famous actors like Bertlan Custer in front of the house, which at the time was a pile of dirt.
– What year did you graduate?
I graduated in 1966 and went to university in 1967
– What diploma did you get? Mathematics?
I got a diploma in Literature and entered the university in 1967,
– What did you take for the entrance exam?
I took the theater entrance exam.
which was the second year of the establishment of theater as a major course at the faculty of Fine Arts.
– Now that you go back to the past, what was one of the most important days of your life?
One of the best days of my life is the day I was admitted at the university.
There were many professors at the university, such as Dr. Rahavard,
and Dr. Yahya Zuka, who taught the history of costume design,
and his classes were so good that several students took part from other faculties, as a historical record, the class was excellent.
Dr. Arianpour class was another of our good ones, he taught us the sociology of art. It was also overcrowded.
Our other professors were Mr. Samandarian and Dr. Namdar.
I also had been student of Mr. Rashidi in final semester.
Dr. Mamnoon also taught us theater.
Ms. Sepahi, who was a Swiss and had an Iranian husband, also taught us movement on stage.
My classmates mostly changed their careers,
only Ismail Mehrabi and I continued to the play in theater,
there were some students the year before us that I do not remember their names right now,
and some of them from next year after us like Reza Babak.
Most of the students did not pursue their acting career and only got a bachelor’s degree and looked for another job.
The younger students were like Susan Taslimi, Susan Farrokhnia, Marzieh Boroumand, and Bahram Shah Mohammadlu.
Another of my classmates was the late Kayhan Rahgozar,
who wrote the screenplay for Sarbedaran and directed the Ibn Sina series, we were a group.
When I was a student, I played a lot,
everyone liked how I play and professional directors always hired me, so I never was jobless,
I was criticized and encouraged as a professional actor.
The university did not add anything more to our knowledge, like a physics student who learn certain subjects
because there is no such method in art, and it has its own method, and it is not like other disciplines.
But something that should have happened to me happened and put me in the field of art.
I was a classmate of all great artists of that period in different field such as music,
graphics (Ebrahim Haghighi) and we had joint classes,
so it made my general taste grown and I always saw things right,
which means, I learned the habit of seeing things right, which is very valuable to me.
Part 02
Part 2: Activity in the theater: Before the revolution
(Part of the tele-theater is broadcast)
After graduation, I got married while serving in the military,
and my military service was completed in April 1973.
Before that, I had played “Meeting the Old Lady” in 1972,
then Mr. Abbas Javanmard watched my performanc so, he helped me to get hired by the office of the theater.
At first, I was temporarily hired in the Ministry of Culture for a few years, until 1981 when I became an official employee.
In the play “Meeting the Old Lady” I was selected by the Goethe Institute in Germany
as the best third-world actor in the German-language text (The author of the play was a German, Friedrich Durrenmatt).
I was supposed to be a guest for residency in the Institute for 6 months in early 1976,
but I did not attend because my wife was going to give birth in the mid-summer
and we were paid every six months as temporary employees.
of course, the amount of 600 to 650 tomans was not a lot, finally I got permission for going abroad.
So, Mr. Pahlbod was happy about that I already had performed this play in university,
and it had nothing to do with Mr. Pahlbod, but I am glad he was happy.
I was concerned about my wife’s condition, and I was not able to earn money during residency,
so I had to have enough deposits to support my family for 6 months.
Therefore, I applied for a 20 thousand tomans loan…
Of course, many people were taking part in that for free, even they got paid,
but I was really invited as a guest to attend theater classes, and participate in theater workshops.
Everything was well pre-planned for me to go.
They were happy because They had seen my performance and liked it very much,
but the theater administration told me that it is up to you to provide 20 thousand tomans, that’s why I missed that opportunity.
My first professional work as an actor was with Bahman Forsi, who was a writer and director.
His work was “crutched” in which I played the role of Rustam,
he had a Crutch instead of a sword, It was bankrupt and devastated, like belonging to the heart of history …
it was performed in the Iran-US Association and the Faculty of Fine Arts.
That was my first work and Jalal Al-Ahmad, Mahmoud Enayat and Ahmad Shamloo praised my play in their magazines.
In 1969, I had another work with Bahman Forsi called “the sound of breaking”.
I had these two collaborations with Bahman Forsi and practice several other works, but we could not perform all of them.
At that time, I was 22-23 years old, but I should play the role of a 50-year-old worker in the “Ports of New York” play which was very difficult.
You can play the role of an old man and impersonate his character,
but at the age of 50, playing the role of 20 or 25, is not difficult but is different, it is only a form in performance.
it was very difficult for me as well, however, my play fortunately was approved.
I played the meeting of the old lady, which was a turning point in my professional career,
then Ebrahim Toupchi and Agha Beyk which written by Manouchehr Radin
and directed by Rokn al-Din Khosravi, which was very popular,
After that, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, which was about apartheid in South Africa
and had two characters, only me and Behrouz Baghaei.
We performed it for two months but we practiced this play for 3-4 months. I played 23 roles.
audience came from Africa to watch our performance because it was an African play,
they were asking: “did this actor grew up in Africa?”
I could not speak English so, Khosravi was saying: no, he has not left Iran at all! Which made them sad.
Most nights these Africans asked me how do you know Africa and what do these gestures and behaviors mean?
I used to answer pain is common sense among all people but it’s different in quality.
It was a very strange performance, but I got a salary about 1800 Tomans,
which it was not enough compared to today’s salary.
For example, I had paid about 400 tomans for going back and forth.
Other plays were the same, I mean, we were paid, but it was more than what we were spending.
Another work of mine at the university, I can mention Hamid Samandarian’s work “A view of the bridge”,
that was written by Arthur Miller and performed at the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1348.
Ismail Mehrabi, Khosrow Farrokhzadi and I were among the main actors.
Later in 1351, this play was recorded for television.
My next work was from Thornton Wilder called “Our Small Town”, that had a lot of actors, me included.
The play “The Dumb Employee” directed by Dariush Farhang, in which Mehdi Hashemi and I played.
We also performed the author Harold Pinter in Fine Arts faculty.
Another one was “The story not new”, written by Sadegh Hatefi,
“In the light of a story”, the author and director of which was Kayhan Rahgoza, ect…
These works performed at university as well.
After that “The amoozegaran” written by Mohsen yalfani
And “Under the roofs”, directed by Jafar Wali, written by Gholam Hossein Saedi
that it was realated to mashrooteh revolution, which happening in the neighborhood ….
I forgot its name … Ahan!!, Amirkhiz, in the city of Tabriz …,
I directed a play in 1969 called “Rail”, written by Mahmoud Dolatabadi, which was my first directing work.
After that, I played the “Ario Dakapura”, written by Vincente Minnelli, translated and directed by Parviz Khazraei.
My university thesis was about a foreign author: Arthur Miller.
When I started reading the translated texts,
I had played “A Look at the Bridge” and became interested in Arthur Miller,
realizing my own ability and choice of works.
For example, I never went to Shakespeare, but once we practiced “King Lear” for two or three months,
I found that it could not be made and I closed it.
About Iranian actors, they should work a lot for now!
Some artists play Hamlet with one or three personage, which does not work.
If you claim, Play the role of Hamlet. why do you play Cousin!
That is why I did not go to these types of writers because I know it is not in my capability and not in others.
Our acting (in Iran) has not yet grown enough to be able to tell a three-line or four-line dialogue consecutively.
We do not have the knowledge of theatrical expression for this type of work, so I did not go to it.
In the theater I read and performed the writings of great authors,
and this made me find a point of view for myself and pay attention to follow the point where the truth is hidden?
Is it possible to find the truth? What is the true meaning of life?
Is man’s aim only to go from point A to point B and that’s all!
Or if we realize other personality, it means cognition?!
Or, the most attractive trait of man is that he can go as far as he can and still not be known!
I found that human attractiveness is in the unknowns that stand in the way.
While one tries to know others or tries to know a category about human beings,
it makes motivation to take life more seriously…
You asked me “When did I find out that I am an actor?” I still do not understand!
But from the middle of elementary school I realized that I loved acting and I still do.
Part 03
Part 3 / Theater after the revolution
I often directed after the revolution
I like most of them but I really like the Hairy Ape
It was very hard work with different characters and the fast rhythm and fast pace
The protagonist is a Ship crew member who is humiliated by the daughter of the ship owner and capitalists
he works in fire house, he escape and takes refuge in the zoo and there he turns into an Ape
The story is strange by itself, author is Eugene O’Neill
I performed Arthur Oeil, I like this a lot
and the burning witch as well by author was Arthur Miller, I also directed it
Most of my actors were students, because professional actors didn’t have time.
For example, those who become professionals now are, Farhad Jam,
Elham Pavehnejad, Amir Atashani and Nasrallah Radesh Who later got into laughing
It had 50 actors and was performed in Sangalaj in 1991.
I also acted in The enemy of the people in 2006 in the main hall of the city theater of Tehran.
and I was also its director, it was also very successful and welcomed
In Ibsen’s work, especially The enemy of the people
This is the story of a city doctor who realizes that the water of this city is poisonous
and he tries to do something and inform people not to drink this water.
But people die, their children are born sick. Describes the catastrophe.
The doctor’s brother is the mayor of the city, and he does not let go and stops him
But he goes somewhere without the mayor’s knowledge
and gathers people and say his words
Some people come and throw stones and suffocate him (stop him from speaking)
and the truth is not told and those waters are fed to the people.
The other was Anton Chekhov the seagull
Chekhov’s three sisters, Ivanov
I staged all of Chekhov’s long works. There are 5 that I did all 5 of them.
This is a cherry orchard (Bagheh Albaloo) for the second time because it failed for the first time with a rain rocket
– What is it about Chekhov’s writings that attracts you while we have other Russian writers?
Chekhov does not tell a story
and then the people who wrote are unpredictable just as man himself is unpredictable
Not in behaviors in speech
I mean, we knew what we wanted to talk about the day we sat down, but we did not know what to say, Chekhov is like this
And incidentally, in all of them there is a garden that the owners of that garden.
The period of feudalism is coming to an end and it becomes capitalism
and the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie and the industrial revolution and … minus nature .
Chekhov is an environmentalist in his work and in these five, there are 5 gardens
where the garden has an owner who is the mother of the family
and then there is an uncle who is his brother and the uncle is repeated and passive as a son of the family.
They did not get married, neither of them was the same as Oblomov
None of the uncles got married and are passive in the face of their older sister’s behavior and cannot do anything about it.
All stories are similar, but he defines these 5 stories with different words.
But it does not clarify its fate.
The inevitable fate of all these stories is that this garden will be destroyed and the trees will be cut down.
Chekhov does not wrap the script at all,
and of course it has the property of being a Chekhov work that one can perform in a very vulgar way and not touch its composition.
Everyone has this kind of performance, but in Chekhov’s works this talent is very strong,
but because human thinking is behind him and he only talks about human beings and human moments,
he does not talk about political issues at all.
If I say that this period is coming to an end,
it is in all his works that feudalism is flourishing and Chekhov himself is still living in the feudal era
and the Bolsheviks have not happened yet in 1917 / but Chekhov died in 1904 at a young age.
That is, he himself lives in that period, but what he sees only analyzes man himself.
In different situations, he has a kind of mission that introduces man to himself without cheating.
You idiot has a lot or you are not a traitor at all,
Chekhov’s heroes were written much easier than that,
and they all need a piece of bread, even though they are rich and everyone is falling.
They have nothing, it shows the same feudal period,
but its emphasis is not on the issues of feudalism, but its emphasis is on human recognition,
and if Chekhov still does not do much, I will say that he has 5 great works,
which I did 5 because he is very friendly as a writer. I have.
I took three works in Sangalaj on the stage,
both of them were foreign, and of course Morvarid, who was Iranian,
and all of them have Iranian culture and tradition, officially,
for example, he has the same amount of recitation, he has some amount of recitation,
because one of the characters comes, that is he has, there is a kind of mourning.
All these customs and traditions have shown themselves in the play of Pearls,
and it was a very successful work when it was performed in 1982
They were another one in 1987, The Value of Arthur Miller and 1991 The Crucible Arthur Miller
– Did you teach too?
Yes, I taught theater, acting, directing in college,
I do not teach now because I did not like it,
I continued for a few years at the insistence of friends and I was ashamed to say no.
From one place I said I will not teach anymore, in 1379 I did not teach anymore.
Uncle Vanya is the last thing we did in 1392, three years ago when I played the role of Uncle Vanya.
Like all of Chekhov’s uncles, he is not married. He does not just witness the demise of himself and his family.
– Has it ever happened that you do not work in the theater for a long time?
Yes, for example, my last job was in 1392, and now it is coming to an end in 1395, and I have not worked for three years.
You are working on the cherry orchard now, right?
Yes, I had not worked in theater for three years, I had not done anything,
I was a little discouraged, I saw that we were disappointed that it was because I did not work in theater.
I had lost my self-confidence. Officially, I was not confident until a few months ago,
because I saw that something was moving next to my hand for a lifetime in the name of my profession, my twin … He walked with me, I told this twin to go there.
I will be cursed, I came it started very hard.
I applied in March of last year, and after performing, for example, in September,
I am now scheduled to perform in February and March.
Of course, the Center for the Performing Arts and the person in charge of the performing arts, Mr. Shafiei,
have been very supportive of me, that is, they would have really been accompanied if it were not for him.
I mean, I was going forward as if someone was beating me, I was falling, as if I could not continue,
but anyway, I started now and I feel a thick neck and I stand on this and that and I shout.
It had happened that I … I was telling my actor how to say no, you should not do this, that is, I had lost this.
Now, not twice, I find myself beautiful. I aimed at finding and knowing myself through theater through life.