TEHRAN—Head of Fasa Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Department Ebrahim Abdollahzadeh has said that a giant open-air Tazieh performance (passion play) will be held in Fasa of Fars province.

He explained that the event will be held in Saheb al-Zaman Hill in Sahraroud village, Miras Arya (CHTN) reported.

Tazieh is held in the village annually with an aim of depicting the events of Ashura, the tenth of Muharram month, when Imam Hussein (AS), his family members, and his companions were martyred in Karbala, he said. 

He also said that since 2004, a special topic has been chosen for the village’s Tazieh performance every year.  This year, “Awakened Conscience” is the name of topic, he added. 

Tazieh in Iran designates a traditional religious theatrical genre, essentially commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hossein (AS) and the passions of the Ahlulbeyt (members of the family of the Prophet of Islam). In this theatrical genre, the recitation of the lyrics, which are almost always in verse, takes precedence over the directing and the action.

Registered on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, Tazieh is a kind of drama that recounts the brave war and martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other incidents that occurred on Ashura, the day Imam Hussein (AS) and his 72 companions were martyred by the oppressive Umayyad dynasty in 680 CE. Tazieh performance began during the Safavid era (1501-1736) and flourished during the Qajar era (1794-1925).

Tazieh presents religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales. Each performance has four components of poetry, music, song and motion.

KD