Henrik Ibsen and Iranian modern drama : reception and influence

Omtale

The co-functioning of the social, moral, psychological and aesthetic elements in Ibsen's works created the pattern out of which Iranian contemporary drama was strongly influenced. For Iranian artists, Ibsen's plays were suitable enough to express their diverse outlooks ranging from Marxism to Gnosticism. The process was intense and difficult due to the fluctuating social conditions during the last one hundred years. Iranian intellectuals were acquainted with Ibsen plays first performed in1909 and continued up to the present time. Staging Ibsen's plays with a sociological approach was difficult because of lack of freedom of expression, on one hand, and ethical concerns, on the other. Therefore, Iranian artists were prohibited to depict explicit relationships that existed in Ibsen's plays. But the revolutionary intellectuals took part in defending his plays and attempted to make interpretations of his works as an evolutionary step toward the adaptation process for the Iranian stage. Ibsen's creative contribution to the Iranian stage, as well as later television and radio programs left a tremendous impact on the realistic tradition of Iranian drama. His influence came as a cultural material, the material that gave raise to dramatic inventions rooted in the Persian identity.