Davood Zarekoohi, the well-known director of children’s and youth theater, who is rehearsing his new play “Pinocchio” these days, talks about the concerns of theater production for teenagers. He, who has so far performed shows such as: Excuse Me, I Didn’t Read, Dead end, Otherwise, When We Were Not Around, and Wisper for the teenage audience with the titles of writer, director, art designer or producer, among his concerns for “Teenage Theater” He says

“I became interested in working for them since I had more contact with teenagers, and this goes back to the years 2016 and 2017, when I was teaching theater as an instructor at the center for the intellectual development of children and teenagers. I saw there that, unfortunately, teenage children have fewer tools for entertainment, spending free time, and even movies, books, music, and theater than children. When children reach the age of 11 to 12, their interests are different compared to younger children and they somehow feel grown up and don’t even want to be together with children. Little by little, this feeling becomes stronger and the age of teenage children increases and they reach around 15 to 16 years old, they consider themselves very different. They consider themselves big and think they know many things. The word “I know” comes out of their mouths a lot, and it is from this moment that the society and especially those involved in the education sector leave them alone in the midst of an onslaught of important questions and issues of life. Even then, I remember telling the children who were over 16 years old that you have grown up and don’t come to the center, and it was very sad and uncomfortable for them”

The director of “Tavanesh Acting School” says in another section: Since 2018 when I founded the acting school, I decided to consider a special section for teenagers now that I am in charge of an educational space. I no longer had to distinguish between children and I found the time suitable to produce a play with teenage students and with their own views. and the children enjoyed practicing and producing it. The name of that show was “Excuse Me, I Didn’t Read”, which unfortunately, the Council for Supervision and Evaluation of the Show did not give it a public performance permit. Although we performed in a festival and all my actors won an acting award and we had two performances in the school, but I could not stage it as long as I wanted. It was there that I learned the rules of teenage theater with the so-called red lines

In another part of his speech, Zarekoohi says: As I went further and taught teenagers and produced theater with them, I came to the point that considering that there is less theater for teenagers in the society, so We have less audience of teenage theater. Therefore, a special place should be considered for their performance, or special people or organizations should be found to support this issue, and special support should be given to this section so that teenagers and their families know that theater is suitable for teenagers. and come to see such shows. Although I must say, unfortunately, in our society, for various reasons, there are few directors who are aware of the concerns and thoughts of teenagers and seek to produce theater for them, maybe even less than the number of fingers on one hand. No government or private organization steps into this field because it is not profitable for them, and of course there are many other reasons why teenagers prefer not to enter this field. Do you know why? Because the theater is informative and the youth group is searching for discovery and questioning

Zarekoohi continues: I felt exactly from the show “When we are not” that I should produce theater for teenagers. Maybe one of the reasons was that I had a teenage child myself. I realized very well how much the theater helps him to overcome his emotions that have peaked at this age. in making friends and communicating with his peers, in draining energy, in reducing the stress caused by lessons and school and exams and growth hormones that confront him with strange questions every day, which we adults don’t even know and We are not looking for an answer

The director of the show When We Were Not Around , added: I think that when we see a deficiency somewhere and we think we can do something about that deficiency, we should get started and start somewhere. In this regard, I think that I should stay in the youth theater and produce theater for this group, because I know the way of working with these children very well, I know their thoughts, and of course we have a constructive relationship with each other and the children. They trust me. Some of them even share things with me easily that they don’t tell their parents

In the final part of his speech, Davood Zarekoohi mentioned a special play and said: I recently staged a play called “Strange Events of 16 Years” played by twenty teenagers. Of course, this show had a limited performance, but in this short performance, I encountered good comments and reactions that I decided to stage this show for more classes and other audiences. But I knew that if I boldly decided to produce with the same play, I would face problems such as the problems of the play “Excuse Me I Didn’t Read”. My students also had little experience. Therefore, I decided to spend more time on the play so that its idea is cooked and on the other hand, my actors can gain more experience by taking other courses. During this time, both my teenage friends and their parents asked me many questions about the public performance of this show and they wanted to know if I will perform the show at all or not? From here, I must say yes, my good friends, the production of this show is in my plans, and after the Pinocchio show and from the coming winter, we will start rehearsing it for next year’s performance

“I remain committed to performing theater for teenagers”

 End of news and conversation

September 5, 2023