Interview with Mojdeh Shamsaie; Reviving the Ideal Woman of Beyzaei Without Regret or Sorrow

Mojdeh Shamsaie, a renowned actress who recently performed in the first part of the play "Dash Akol as Told by Marjan" by Bahram Beyzaei, states that in recent years, acting in plays that Mr. Beyzaei has staged in the United States has allowed her to perform in complete freedom, something she never experienced in Iran. In an interview with "Sahneh" of Radio Farda, Ms. Shamsaie mentions that she can no longer return to the past and the limitations she had become accustomed to, adding: "I no longer have a conception of that type of work and I do not want to have one. I do not want to return to that era and regret it. I am currently performing a play by Bahram Beyzaei in Persian; without the concern and fear of whether this performance will be stopped or not." In the play "Dash Akol as Told by Marjan," which premiered in early October this year in Berkeley, California, she plays the role of Marjan's mother. This character has a very minor presence in the story of "Dash Akol" written by Sadegh Hedayat, and her name is not even mentioned, but in the play that Bahram Beyzaei executed with a focus on this work, Marjan's mother is named "Mahbanoo" and is the main character. The unique and multifaceted relationship of Mahbanoo with Dash Akol and her daughter Marjan is one of the notable highlights of the play "Dash Akol as Told by Marjan." Mojdeh Shamsaie describes the character of Mahbanoo as another example of Beyzaei's "ideal women," stating: "The women in Mr. Beyzaei's works share a skeleton, body, framework, and commonality. Although they exist in different times, places, and ages, they are all Beyzaei's ideal women. They think. They are steadfast. They do not accept oppression and want to achieve their desires. I do not think Mahbanoo is very different from other characters in Beyzaei's works. In her time, she may have been a more progressive woman. In the second part, Mahbanoo may even step beyond those women. She is considered a very free woman and an intellectual for her time." Mojdeh Shamsaie became the main female actress in Bahram Beyzaei's theatrical works starting from 1991 with her performance in the film "Mosafiran" and acted in plays such as "Shab Hezar o Yekom," "Majles-e Shabih dar Zekr-e Masa'ib-e Ostad Navid Makkan va Hamserash Mohandes Rakhshid Farzin," and "Afra, or the Day Passes" directed by Mr. Beyzaei. Referring to the difficulties of performing those plays in Iran, she states that she no longer has a conception of that type of work: "In Iran, we always had to run for several years to bring a work to the stage or in front of the camera. So many social events had to happen for something to materialize. Until the last day, we were not sure whether it would happen or not, or whether it would be stopped in the middle of the work like the work 'Majles-e Shabih.' But here, we never faced those problems. Whenever we proposed a text to Mr. Milani as the supporter of these works, he welcomed it 100%. Whenever we encountered any problem, he said to do whatever is best for the work, and we will provide the facilities. We have complete freedom. It is true that in terms of human resources in Iran, more people helped us, but here it is just me, Mr. Beyzaei, and the kids who have been with us during this time; but despite all the difficulties, we are confident about the outcome and that the work will eventually be performed." Bahram Beyzaei has been residing in the United States since 2010 and is teaching at the Stanford University Center for Iranian Studies. During this time, he has staged plays such as "Jana and Biladur," "Report of Arda Viraf," "Tarabnameh," "Chahaarrah," and "Dash Akol as Told by Marjan." Mojdeh Shamsaie discusses the process of creating and performing these plays: "We definitely could not have performed these plays in Iran. Just as none of these plays' texts received permission for publication in Iran. Mr. Beyzaei sent all the texts of these plays to Iran through Ms. Shahla Lahiji, may her memory be blessed, because he wanted them to be published in Iran. None of them received permission. These works could not have been performed in Iran." Ms. Shamsaie continues: "Some of these works, like 'Jana and Biladur' and 'Report of Arda Viraf,' which had initial versions and were written with a kind of self-censorship in Iran, were not published either, hoping they could be performed or published there. Yes, we lost a large audience for that. I am very sorry for that. What we could do was to record these performances so that they could be viewed in Iran and other parts of the world. So that they could be documented for the history of Iranian theater. I think this is more important. Just think, the quantity of plays that Mr. Beyzaei has worked on here is equivalent to all the years he worked in Iran. If this multi-year hiatus had not occurred due to the pandemic, this number would have been even higher." In response to the question of whether she misses performing Bahram Beyzaei's plays in Iran, Mojdeh Shamsaie tells "Sahneh" of Radio Farda that Beyzaei symbolizes Iranian culture and Iran for her, and as long as she has him by her side, she feels no lack due to being away from Iran. "When I am on stage in a play by Bahram Beyzaei, I do not think I am in Berkeley or in Tehran's City Theater. I am performing a play by Bahram Beyzaei in Persian. Without the concern and fear of whether this performance will be stopped or not. I am acting in complete freedom, something I have never experienced in Iran. I can no longer return to the past with those limitations that we had become accustomed to or accepted or could not do anything about. I no longer have a conception of that type of work and I do not want to have one. I do not want to return to that era and regret it. I think this is a brilliant opportunity that we must appreciate and I do not let nostalgic thoughts about what if it were in the City Theater cloud my mind." Ms. Shamsaie expresses satisfaction and happiness with her current work: "I am fundamentally averse to feeling regret and sorrow. I never look back to feel regret. We have a general regret that we are here, all of us. We all should have been in our own place. That larger regret is somewhere else, that if it were not for that, we would be in our own country now and doing theater. But now that it is this way, I am very satisfied and happy with the work we are doing." According to Mojdeh Shamsaie, Bahram Beyzaei now "puts everything he thinks on paper. There are no limitations for his thoughts, ideas, and creativity. There are no obstacles."