Italian play scoops awards at Iranian children’s theater festival

Italian play ‘The Diary of an Ugly Duckling’ has scooped top awards in all main sections of the 24th International Theater Festival for Children and Young Adults in Iran.

Written and directed by Tonio De Nitto from Italy, the children’s piece was picked as best play at the festival, and Tonio De Nitto received the awards for best director and best playwright during the closing ceremony at the venue in the Iranian city of Hamedan this week.

The award for best set design and best actor went to Roberta Dori Puddu and Luca Pastore, respectively.

The play also bestowed Paolo Coletta with the award for best composer.

‘The Diary of an Ugly Duckling’ is an adaptation of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Ugly Duckling’, which fables the story of a small swan, believed to be a duckling.

The swan crosses the various stages of life, through which she discovers herself and her place in the world, finding diversity as a key and valuable element.

In the national section of the Hamedan festival, the award for best director went to Mehdi Farshidi-Sepehr for ‘The Pink Wisdom’, while Hamid Qalei was picked as best playwright for ‘The Boys Are Alone’.

Iran and eight other countries performed 48 plays during the festival, which opened on November 30 and ended December 6.

Founded in 1991, the International Theater Festival of Children & Youth was at first held in the Iranian city of Hamedan. Iranian cities of Kerman and Isfahan have also hosted some editions of the event. The Iranian city of Hamedan has been hosting the event again since 2001.

AI/AI