.jpg "Hossein Moheb Ahari (R) and a thespian act in a scene from “The Taming of the Shrew” at Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater Complex on April 5, 2015.")
TEHRAN -- Iranian actor Hossein Moheb Ahari, who is fighting lymphoma, has said that acting in theatrical performances is more healing than the medicine he received during chemotherapy.
He plays the role of Baptista Minola, a lord in Padua, in William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, which is currently on stage at Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater Complex.
“With due respect to Shakespeare’s other works, this play, due to its comic tone, is more entertaining,” Moheb Ahari told the Persian service of Honaronline on Monday.
He said that performing such a play is helpful for Iranian society, which currently needs a cheerful atmosphere more than ever.
“Due to my special condition, working helps my treatment to go well, both physically and mentally,” he stated and added, “Thus, I think that theater is more healing than the treatment.”
Moheb Ahari, 64, received an honorable mention for his role in “The Taming of the Shrew”, which was directed by Maryam Kazemi during the 31st International Theater Festival in Tehran in 2013.
He has been receiving treatment for his illness since 2012. In July 2013, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited him at his home in Tehran. He ordered his aides to make the necessary arrangements for his treatment.
MMS/YAW
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