Persian Opera :The Rain Bird

The Vahdat Opera House is one of the most beautiful and fully equipped in Tehran. We were invited to see the " Rain Bird" or Morque Baran a creation of Pari Saberi a reknown theater writer and director. In one of her interviews she had indicated that her dreams of having a Persian Opera were realized with this work. The "Rain Bird " is based on the legendary story of Jamshid and Zahak. Jamshid is the King of Persia who gets caught in his pride and claims absolute authority and the devil comes to his help through Zahak to oppress the people and to silence any opposition. In face of his tyranny Kaveh the son of a goldsmith and Feriedoon come to fight against the oppression and ultimately they imprison the cruel Zahak. In addition to beautiful traditional costumes and great Persian music performance by the Kamkar Group, the play was laden with beautiful verses of poetry from Hafiz and Ferdowsi as well as contemporary poets like Sohrab Sepehri and Houshang Ebtehaj.

 Iranian arts, music , theater and poetry were all present in one work. The political message of this legendary epic is one of freedom from oppression and tyranny of the rulers and foreign domination; as the aggression of Alexander remains as a historical reminder of the interests that colonial powers pursued in Iran. The performance was excellent and there was a 10 minute standing ovation at the end indicative of the general approval of the audience.