Hossein Ghareh, an Iranian playwright who had the chance to meet Radi in person and learn from him, said that Radi was among the top Iranian playwrights of his time and one of the most important contemporary Iranian authors. He carried the title of the “father of Iran’s playwriting.”
“Akbar Radi can be placed second, after Bahram Beyzaei, on the list of the top ten Iranian playwrights,” said Ghareh in an interview with Avash News.
Ghareh added that Radi addressed the sufferings of modern humans in his works and showed how they struggled with increasing pains and hardships.
“Radi used to write three-act plays, but after the Islamic Revolution, upon the suggestion of one of his friends, he also started to write one-act plays,” Ghareh said, adding that Radi was among the few Iranian playwrights who had the chance to have most of his works directed by a single director. He explained that Hadi Marzban directed the majority of his plays, including Melody of the Raining City.
Ghareh said that Radi is known as Iran’s Chekhov because his early works reflected issues similar to those of the 19th century.
“He was a teacher, and it was his main source of livelihood,” Ghareh said, adding that attention to detail in describing scenes was one of the unique features of his works.
“For example, when he described a fragrance or the way a stitch had been made on a piece of cloth,” he explained.
Radi was a critical writer, and human growth was among his main concerns, Ghareh concluded.
Amiz Qalamdoun, A Cloth for Conte, Qebleh Alam, and Night on Wet Cobblestone were among Radi’s most famous works.
Radi was born in Rasht, but after his father went bankrupt, his family moved to Tehran. He continued his studies in the capital and later entered the University of Tehran to study social sciences. Radi taught literature and drama to students.
Akbar Radi passed away on December 26, 2000, due to bone marrow cancer.
According to his memoirs, what first made Radi interested in theatre was a play by Henrik Ibsen called A Doll’s House.
During the 12-day Israel-imposed war against Iran, part of Radi’s historical house was destroyed.
