Performing Iran

Babak Rahimi

"The spectacle of taziyeh dramas and performances are well known in the Iranian context. Similar to western passion plays, they commemorate the fate of Hassan and Hussein at Karbala. Popular throughout the Qajar dynasty, the popularity of these re-enactments has slowly declined. But nonetheless, they continue to have an influence on drama and performance in Iran, in the cinema, on the stage and in music. The analysis in this book focuses on performance practices, examining drama, texts, rituals, plays, cinema and drama technologies. This is done in order to show how Iran has been imagined through enactments and representations, and reproduced through these performative actions. The book uses a wider definition of the concept of 'performance', offering analysis of a wide range of phenomena, including ancient rituals - such as the naqqali and taziyeh - and online performances by...