THE DOLL BEHIND THE CURTAIN

In August 8, I had three plays presented at Film Society in Los Angeles where Hassan Fayyad the founder and artistic director of this cultural organization founded it in 2003. Film Society is a nonprofit, public benefit organization, an educational and cultural institution dedicated to the promotion of World Cinema, theatre, music and poetry reading serving International communities in Los Angeles.

Mahmoud Behrouzian and Roya Aryanpad


My plays "Bride of Acacias" and "Two Iranian Children" were performed in English and "The Doll Behind the Curtain" was in Persian, directed and acted by Mahmoud Behrouzian and Roya Aryanpad. "The Doll Behind the Curtain" is a play based on a short story by Sadegh Hedayat, the prominent Iranian novelist and fiction writer adapted by me. I wrote this play in 2005 for Sadeq Hedayat's hundred years' birthday celebration.


Mahmoud Behrouzian

My adaptation of his short story of the same title, emphasizes a young man's fascination for a silent statue behind a boutique’s window in Paris . Infatuated by her mysterious beauty, he pays all his saving to own this soulless mannequin. The play explores the complexity of love, sexuality and intimacy from the perspective of an eccentric man, torn in between tradition and modernity. I changed the ending by empowering the role of women suited well to the reality of today's liberated Iranian women.

Mahmoud Behrouzian's acting was profound, enormously effective and captivating as well as Roya Aryanpad's memorable presence as the mannequin and the fiance.

Poster and the pictures are by Hassan Fayyad.
You'll be able to listen to the play in the archive.
SNL DePaul University press also announced the reading in Newsletter.
A report on the program including interviews in VOA.

Hassan Fayyad is an alumni of UCLA's film school, former writer-director of documentary films for the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Arts; producer-director and head of Special Production Departments, NIRT (National Iranian Radio and Television); Member, Faculty of Dramatic Arts (Iranian Ministry of Culture and Arts), Faculty of Fine Art (University of Tehran) and College of Cinema and Television (National Iranian Radio and Television); Writer, Filmmaker, Film Critic, and Literary Translator.


Mr. Fayyad has also taught Cinema and Theatre Arts at UCLA, Oxnard College, and Pacific Art Center. His recent translation: Freedom, Selected Poems of Octavio Paz, was published four years ago in Tehran, Iran and Homesick Blues: Langston Hughes Selected Poems, his latest translation was published last year in Tehran-Iran. In addition, his book: Reflections on Cinema: Essays on Film Aesthetic and Criticism will be published next year in Tehran, Iran. Currently, in addition to teaching, Mr. Fayyad is working on two film projects: Forough Farrokhzad: A Journey Along The Line of Time and Langston Hughes: A Dream Deferred (English version).