Ta’ziyeh, as a form of Iranian ritual theatre, finds its roots in the early Islamic period and centers around the re-enactment of the Battle of Karbala. Nearly 1400 years ago, Hussein ibn Ali—grandson of the Prophet of Islam and the third Imam in Shia belief—along with 72 of his companions, confronted the forces of Yazid ibn Muawiyah, who claimed leadership over the Islamic world. Facing an army of thousands, they were ultimately defeated.
Yet this battle transcended a mere military conflict; it became a symbolic turning point in the political and spiritual imagination of Muslims. For Shia communities, the military defeat of Hussein’s camp came to represent a moral and spiritual triumph—“the victory of blood over the sword.” Over the centuries, this idea has endured as a metaphor for resistance against tyranny and injustice, and Ta’ziyeh has remained a key medium for embodying and transmitting this ideology.
With the rise of the Safavid Empire in the 16th century and the institutionalization of Shi’ism in Iran, commemorations of the Karbala event became more formalized. Ta’ziyeh emerged as a theatrical mode of mourning, blending oral traditions, poetic dialogues, and music to narrate the tragedy.
During the Qajar period, especially under the reign of Naser al-Din Shah, Ta’ziyeh evolved from a religious mourning ceremony into a form of performative spectacle. After visiting the Royal Albert Hall in England, the Shah commissioned the construction of the Takyeh Dowlat, a state-funded venue designed specifically for staging grand Ta’ziyeh performances. Lavish costumes, choreographed staging, and musical narration turned the event into a public spectacle, drawing larger audiences and embedding the ritual deeper into the fabric of Iranian culture.
However, under the Pahlavi dynasty—with its push toward secularization—Ta’ziyeh was suppressed for a time. In certain periods, it was even banned and forced to continue underground. Despite this, the tradition survived through oral transmission, particularly because of its theatrical and musical appeal.
After the 1979 revolution, Ta’ziyeh once again gained institutional support. This time, it served a dual purpose: reinforcing religious rituals while also symbolizing resistance against perceived political oppression. Over time, theatrical exaggerations, epic dialogues, and dramatic reinterpretations were added to the core narrative, making it not only a ceremony of mourning but also one of heroism and emotional spectacle.
Ta’ziyeh thus continues to blur the lines between ritual, theatre, and political narrative—preserving a centuries-old story in ever-evolving forms of performance.
Reenactment of the battle scene of Abbas ibn Ali, brother of Husayn ibn Ali, in the events of Karbala. In the performative tradition of Ta’ziyeh, the character of Abbas has taken on an almost mythic and heroic stature—largely shaped by oral narratives of his death. He is portrayed as the ultimate symbol of sacrifice, remembered for his attempt to bring water to the thirsty camp, which led to his martyrdom. The role is typically played by a tall, physically imposing actor, reflecting the character’s legendary strength and moral grandeur.Teenage boys prepare backstage for a Ta’ziyeh performance. In traditional staging, the opposing army is typically dressed in red—an inherited color code symbolizing villainy and aggression in the narrative.The moment of confrontation between Abbas ibn Ali and Shimer ibn Dhil-Jawshan. In the Ta’ziyeh narrative, Shimer presents Abbas with a letter of safe conduct—granted by the Caliph due to their family ties. Abbas tears it apart, refusing to abandon his brother. This act of loyalty is central to his mythologized character in the performance. In classical Ta’ziyeh, the lines of heroic characters such as Abbas are sung in the form of traditional Persian music. Performers must possess not only physical presence but vocal skill, often trained in dastgah and avaz techniques. With the introduction of modern technology, wireless microphones have become a part of the performance.A portrait of the actor portraying Ali Akbar, the young son of Hussein ibn Ali, in a Ta’ziyeh performance held in Armaghankhaneh, a village near Zanjan in northwestern Iran. Outside the stage, Ahmad works as a schoolteacher. His gentle appearance and melodic voice have made him a natural choice for the role—one of the most emotionally charged characters in the performance.Backstage, Hassan prepares to take on the role of Harmala — one of the most reviled antagonists in Ta’ziyeh, the traditional Iranian passion play. Known for his rugged face and deeply wrinkled skin, Hassan has long portrayed “Shemr” in various performances across villages. He says: “I’ve played Shemr so often that people in my village now call me ‘Shemr Hassan.’ That’s how they know me.” But in this performance, he has been invited to embody Harmala — the archer who, with bow and arrow, strikes the throat of the infant son of Hussein, just as the child is raised in his father’s arms in a plea for mercy.The actor playing Ibn Ziyad rehearses his lines backstage before the performance. Dialogue booklets are printed in pocket-sized formats and often carried by the actors during the show, allowing them to discreetly refer to the text if needed.Teenage extras portraying enemy soldiers chant battle cries as they circle the arena, performing in front of an audience of women. These choreographed displays, rooted in ritual, amplify the emotional tension and symbolic polarity of good versus evil within the performance.Audiences sit under the sun on a mountain overlooking the arena of a Ta’ziyeh performance in the village of Rajin, between Zanjan and Tabriz. This form of performance, blending both entertainment and mourning, draws large crowds from religious communities, who gather to witness the emotional and symbolic re-enactment of historical events.Zahra and Zeinab, two teenage sisters, portray “Roqayyah” and “Sukayna”—the 4- and 14-year-old daughters of Hossein ibn Ali—in a local Ta’ziyeh performance. According to unwritten cultural and religious conventions, only prepubescent girls are allowed to perform in such roles. After reaching puberty, they are either replaced or the roles are taken over by teenage boys dressed in female costume. This gender-based restriction reflects a less-visible yet persistent aspect of traditional Ta’ziyeh structure in Iran.A group of performers playing the antagonistic roles—referred to in Ta’ziyeh tradition as ‘Eshqiyaa’—stand in the center of the performance field, dressed in red. Meanwhile, spectators watch from the hillside overlooking the scene. In Ta’ziyeh symbolism, red costumes signify the enemy forces. The Eshqiyaa, though cast as villains, often take on some of the most intense and theatrically demanding roles in the performance.A group of extras portraying the enemy soldiers circle the main stage while chanting rajaz—martial poetry used to boast or intimidate—during a Ta’ziyeh performance in the town of Armaghan Khaneh, located in Zanjan province in northwestern Iran. These ritualistic chants, delivered in front of a captivated audience, blend dramatic intensity with echoes of mythological grandeur rooted in the narrative tradition of Ta’ziyeh.Ta’ziyeh in the town of Armaghan Khaneh boasts a history of over 300 years. The poetic scripts and dialogues have been orally passed down through generations and are traditionally performed in the form of Iranian classical singing, accompanied by live epic music. This ritual drama unfolds over the first ten nights of the lunar month of Muharram, culminating on the evenings of Tasua and Ashura. The performances attract large crowds of religious spectators, particularly on the 9th to 11th nights, many of whom donate significant offerings (nazriyeh) to support the troupe and keep the tradition alive.Battle scenes in Ta’ziyeh are typically choreographed so that a single warrior from Husayn ibn Ali’s army enters the battlefield alone. In order to heighten the dramatic and emotional impact, he is often shown defeating several enemy soldiers before being violently overwhelmed and martyred by the opposing army’s superior numbers. This narrative structure emphasizes themes of individual sacrifice in the face of collective oppression and institutionalized injustice.In the traditional structure of Ta’ziyeh performances, a large group of actors dressed in red—representing the enemy forces—surround a single green-clad character, symbolizing a member of Husayn ibn Ali’s camp. They enact a stylized killing scene, dramatizing the isolation and martyrdom of the central hero. This symbolic confrontation between good and evil highlights themes of injustice, loyalty, and sacrifice.In the traditional structure of Ta’ziyeh performances, a large group of actors dressed in red—representing the enemy forces—surround a single green-clad character, symbolizing a member of Husayn ibn Ali’s camp. They enact a stylized killing scene, dramatizing the isolation and martyrdom of the central hero. This symbolic confrontation between good and evil highlights themes of injustice, loyalty, and sacrifice.In the emotionally charged scenes of Ta’ziyeh—such as Abbas’s farewell to the camp or the martyrdom of key figures—audiences are often deeply moved to tears. Remarkably, this emotional response is renewed each year: despite knowing the outcome of the story, viewers still experience the performance as if for the first time. Even more striking is the fact that, over 1,400 years after the events of Karbala, these tears continue to flow—as if the tragedy had only just occurred.Extended portions of the Ta’ziyeh performance are dedicated to farewell scenes between central characters and the family camp. In these emotionally charged moments, a ritual burial shroud (kafan)—a sacred cloth symbolizing readiness for martyrdom in Shi’a belief—is ceremonially wrapped around the hero by Zaynab, the sister of Husayn ibn Ali. Due to religious and cultural prohibitions, women are not allowed to perform on stage. As such, the role of Zaynab is portrayed by a male actor wearing a long black gown. He delivers her lines in a male voice through traditional singing and even performs intimate gestures like embracing key characters. In Islamic tradition, physical contact between unrelated men and women is prohibited, but by casting a man in the role of Zaynab, this religious constraint is uniquely navigated within the framework of the performance.The dramatic climax of the Ta’ziyeh unfolds after the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, when the red-clad army storms the family camp and sets the tents of the surviving members ablaze. This moment vividly depicts the brutality of the victorious forces and marks the tragic apex of the performance. Among Shi’a believers, the idea of “the triumph of blood over the sword” is attributed to the unwavering strength of Zaynab, Husayn’s sister, who carried the message of Karbala forward after the massacre. As these final scenes unfold, deeply moved spectators often rush into the performance space, grieving and wailing in a ritualistic and performative manner. This moment of spontaneous public mourning blurs the line between performer and audience, transforming the Ta’ziyeh into a communal act of remembrance and resistance.After the performance, Ta’ziyeh actors rest backstage, smoking cigarettes. These brief moments of rest mark a quiet transition between epic roles and everyday life.According to Shia belief, the lineage of Imamate continued after the tragedy of Karbala through Ali ibn al-Husayn, known as Imam Zayn al-Abidin. Although he was present during the events of Ashura, he was unable to fight due to severe illness. Captured after the massacre, his survival is seen by Shia Muslims as a divine continuation of the Imamate and a vital link in preserving the legacy of Karbala.
