January 2009 Visit to Iran
In January 2009, courtesy of Visting Arts and the Iranian DAC, I had the opportunity to be part of a team offering training to theatre colleagues in Iran, and to visit Tehran and see the Fadjr Theatre Festival.
Tehran's Fadjr Theatre Festival
Making allowances for the demands of daily training, I saw a range of material from across Iran and overseas. Some was superb, some awful. We heard lots of young colleagues name checking Grotowski and Pina Bausch with a predictable effect on the tone of their pieces - I sometimes found myself longing for a little more jolly Dario Fo. What was good was outstanding; "best production" went to a piece that wasn't even admitted to the Festival: The Fox Hunt. Unfortunately it closed before we arrived, a common problem in this Festival where the runs are exceptionally short. The big surprise? A very lively adult puppet scene. And audiences that nearly caused riots trying to get into shows, with hundreds left outside doors as the lights went down. My favourite production was probably a beautifully executed three-hander from the provincial city of Rasht. The show was called The Arabian Nights.
Workshop
At the "house of the artist" in Tehran, four colleagues from across Britain including myself undertook a five day workshop with 25 to 30 Iranian colleagues, covering material from team dynamics to planning, to negotiation skills, fund-raising and co-production. The range of experience in the room was considerable and it was obvious to all of us visiting that we were meeting enormously talented fellow-practitioners. 
For more information and contacts of colleagues I met in Iran please email me, or for formal information contact Visiting Arts via the link listed left.