Curtain call for star duck

Mong the duck prepares to star on stage in Cardiff

A duck called Mong is taking the theatre world by storm in a Middle East theatre production which is performing at a Cardiff arts centre.

Mong - a four-year-old Aylesbury duck - has a starring role in The Mute who was Dreamed - a production by Theatre Bazi, the first Iranian company to tour in the UK since the Islamic revolution closed down the country's communications in 1979.

The production is played out in a cage

Controversially the duck - and his brother Ming - are being paid more than some of the actors and technicians taking part in the performance.

Theatre Bazi are performing on Tuesday at Chapter Arts Centre at the end of a small UK tour which has also taken in venues in London, Glasgow and Aberystwyth.

That the small family-run company are playing to UK audiences at all is largely down to the Centre for Performance (CPR) theatre organisation based in Aberystwyth, mid Wales.

Judy Christie, CPR's producer, spotted Theatre Bazi at a festival in the Iranian capital Tehran last year when she was researching acts for the centre's Talking Voice festival.

"I saw about 20 different Iranian productions. A lot of it was traditional stuff. This was the last performance I saw, and I just thought 'Wow, where is this coming from."

Judy Christie: Brought theatre to UK

There then followed a collaborative effort involving Chapter officers and arts council chiefs to bring Theatre Bazi to the UK.

Played out in a cage and with its duck star on stage throughout, The Mute who was Dreamed tells the story of a deaf, blind mute and a violent relationship with her teacher.

For director Attila Pessyani, the drama is a family production with his wife and daughter playing the central characters.

The duck - recruited from AI Animals agency - sits on top of a low table and is central to the metaphor of the tale, prevented as it is from flying.

Mong (and his brother Ming) are no strangers to performing or to Wales - they were farmyard extras in the recent Lorna Doone production filmed in mid Wales.

Handler Dave London - while refusing to elaborate on the animals' stage fee - said they never got stage fright and are largely "unflappable".

"They just amble around on stage. Loud noises don't frighten them - nothing seems to," he said.

Dave London and Mong the duck

However, once the performance is complete, there is no post performance celebrations for Mong the duck - or even the chance for a cooling off dip in a hotel swimming pool.

He has to be transported straight back to London so handler Dave can be ready for his next date - handling 30 dogs in the new hit show Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Palladium.

For Theatre Bazi though, the show is set to continue its tour with a performance in New York in July as Iran steps tentatively down the road to liberalisation.