The Islamic Drama
Page 14
Three forms of singing are used in the Taʹziyeh. The first type is performed by those actors who play the roles of Olya or good characters. These actors are known as olya-khan. These actors, who usually have soft sad voices, sing their parts in traditional Iranian musical forms. Traditional Persian music has between 300 and 400 pieces of different moods. These pieces, which are known as radif, have been divided into 12 divisions or dastgah. These divisions are known as shur, abuata, dashti, bayat-e Turk, afshari, segah, chahargah, homayun, bayat-e esfahan, nava, mahur and rast. Every division has a different mood suitable for a specific character. For example, an olya-khan sings his parts in a particular division which illustrates his mood and personality. The actor who plays the role of Imam Abbas often sings in chahargah. The Taʹziyeh performer is not restricted to one particular division. Sometimes a player moves from one division to another according to the mood of the scene.
The second form of singing is associated with those actors who play the roles of Ashghya or villains. These actors are known as ashghya-khan. In fact, these actors do not sing their parts. For the most part they recite in ringing tones, in a manner that is similar to the way in which story-tellers narrate a combat scene from the Persian epic of Shah-nameh.
The third and last type involves the recitation or singing religious songs, in both solo and choral form. These songs are performed at the end of a Taʹziyeh performance when all the performers and the spectators join together and, beating their chests, sing the songs in harmonious unison.
In the Taʹziyeh, singing is usually unaccompanied. Music is played at various times during the performances, but singing and instrumental music are usually used separately. There are two reasons for this. First, it is done in observance of the ban placed on the use of musical instrument by senior clergy. This ban is seen as a mark of respect for characters who are regarded as holy. The second reason for this separation of vocal and instrumental music is that it allows for more focus to be placed on the voices. The power and quality of the unaccompanied voice used in the Taʹziyeh is perfectly suited for performance in a huge space, whether indoors or out. Persian instrumental music, on the other hand, is essentially chamber music. It was created to be played in small enclosed spaces and its instruments are not able to adequately accompany the loud singing voices of the Taʹziyeh, which need to fill huge spaces packed with thousands of spectators.
In the early years of the Taʹziyeh, three traditional folk instruments were widely used. These were the drum, the trumpet and the cymbals (Figure 42). During the Qajar dynasty, when the royal court and aristocrats supported the Taʹziyeh, more instruments were used, and, in the Takiyeh Dowlat, even the royal music orchestra participated in many productions. Even during the Qajar dynasty, however, the only types of musical instruments used were percussion and wind instruments. String instruments were banned by the religious authorities and consequently have been never used in the Ta’ziyeh.34
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, in addition to the traditional instruments of drum, trumpet and cymbal, a new instrument has been introduced to the Taʹziyeh. It is the electronic keyboard. I believe that the introduction of the electronic keyboard has been harmful because it destroys the original ritualistic quality of the music used in Taʹziyeh performances. The use of the microphone by actors in recent years has also been harmful, not only to the music and song, but also to the whole spiritual atmosphere of the performances. Ahmad Jasbi clearly describes the proper nature of music and song in the Taʹziyeh:
I believe that ‘voice’ and ‘music’ are the most important elements of the Taʹ ziyeh. The Taʹziyeh plays are either in the form of poetry, which must be sung according to the musical divisions, or they are in prose which, again, must be recited in their special tones. Olya-Khan must know the music well… For example, in my opinion, in the Taʹziyeh of Muslim, Muslim must begin with the division of mahur, then moves on to shur, irak, zabol, and finally, ends up in bakhtiari, which is best for the expression of Muslim’s solitude… Olya must sing in the divisions of panj-gah, rahavi and nava, which are soft and noble. Ashghya must not sing in such divisions at all. They should not be soft and noble in any way. Their voices, like their actions, should be rough and aggressive.*35
42. Two photographs of musicians in the Taʹziyeh. The first is from the Qajar period and the second from recent years.
Some Iranian music scholars, such as M.R.Darvishi,36 have argued that, unlike the other performance elements of the Taʹziyeh, the music of the Taʹziyeh did not develop sufficiently. However, it is generally accepted that the music of the Taʹziyeh has been successful in two main areas. First the drum, trumpet and cymbal successfully create a warlike atmosphere for battle scenes. Second the music played on the flute creates a passionate atmosphere for farewell scenes.
THE TAKIYEH
As we saw earlier, the Taʹziyeh was originally developed as a form of ‘theatre-in-the round’ and was intended to be performed in an open space. However, as the Taʹziyeh became more popular with both ordinary people and aristocrats, the need was keenly felt for a permanent performing place that could protect both players and spectators from cold and heat during religious gatherings and especially at the times when the mourning rituals of Muharram and Taʹziyeh were to take place. The takiyehs that were built throughout the country soon became the most popular places for both religious and social gatherings.
The structure of the takiyeh was very simple. It was based on the structure of caravanserai (inns), which were well known in Iranian life and culture. The caravanserai had a simple square or rectangular shape, with rooms surrounding and overlooking a huge yard in the middle. In addition, there was either a brick-made platform or a big pond in the middle of the yard.37 This structure was used as the model in the construction of the takiyehs. If there was a platform in the middle of the yard, it would be used as the stage for a performance. If there was a pond in the middle of the yard, it would be covered with planks of wood that would act as a platform. Even though many of these early takiyehs had no roof, it was possible to cover the area above the yard with canvas during a performance. However, it was not long before takiyehs with permanent roofs were built (1787–1925). During and after the Qajar period, most villages and cities had one or more takiyeh, proving just how popular the takiyehs and the Taʹziyeh were at that time among Iranians.
Although takiyeh and mosque shared certain similarities, the takiyeh was a more secular building than its holy counterpart. A mosque is considered to be the House of God, while a takiyeh is only a place of gathering for religious purposes. To enter a mosque, one has to observe certain religious rituals. A person entering a mosque must wear no shoes and must have been through a purification ceremony. No such religious requirements are needed to enter a takiyeh, which is an informal place of religious gathering, like a church hall that is used mostly for social purposes.
We saw earlier that the takiyehs were built in square or rectangular shapes. There is one exception to this, and that is the Takiyeh Dowlat or Royal Takiyeh (Figures 43 to 46), which has a circular shape and was considered an architectural masterpiece. This huge and magnificent playhouse, which was able to accommodate a large number of spectators inside its walls, was built of bricks and decorated with beautiful tiles. It was commissioned by Nasseredin Shah in 1869, and the construction was supervised by Moir-el-Mamalek, who was a relative of the Shah. Samuel Benjamin has given an accurate first-hand description of the building:
On alighting from the carriage I was surprised to see an immense circular building as large as the amphitheatre of Verona, solidly constructed of bricks… On looking forth over the vast arena a sight met my gaze which was indeed extraordinary. The interior of the building is nearly two hundred feet in diameter and some eighty feet high. A domical frame of timbers, firmly spliced and braced with iron, springs from the walls, giving support to the awning that protects the interior from the sunlight and the rain … I could not avoid observing the masterly arrangement of the
arches to produce strength and beauty alike… In the centre of the arena was a circular stage of masonry, raised three feet and approached by two stairways.38
The second important description of the Takiyeh Dowlat is provided by Etemadol-Saltaneh. Like Benjamin, he wrote a comprehensive report on the building, which he published in 1880. He writes:
43. The interior of the Takiyeh Dowlat, a painting by Kamalol Molk from the Qajar period.
44. The exterior of the Takiyeh Dowlat in 1869.
One of the well-known buildings is the Takiyeh Dowlat, which is built in a circle with four stories all in brick. The roof is built from eight semi-circular wood-iron arches. It is built with a great deal of skill since it is very difficult to build such arches over a vast space. In the month of Muharram, the wooden arches are covered by canvas for protection from rain and sun… This Takiyeh looks like a huge mountain in the city.*39
Etemadol-Saltaneh gives more information about the Takiyeh-Dowlat in an article published in 1887:
45. The dome of the Takiyeh Dowlat.
46. The galleries and the decoration of the walls in the Takiyeh Dowlat.
A group of skilled engineers and masons were summoned by order of the Royal government. They designed this proud building and within four to five years a huge sum of money from government treasury was spent so that the building could be finished… This blessed building is circular and has four storeys, each with many galleries and rooms and excellent halls. Inside the Takiyeh is decorated with excellent tiles… This building has been built mainly from stone, brick, plaster and plaster of lime and ashes.*40
There is no doubt that such a magnificent playhouse raised the status of the Taʹziyeh as a national form of art among Iranians. It also had an effect on the style of the performance and changed it from a simple to a more elaborate enterprise. In particular, the building of this playhouse helped in the process of advancing professionalism. The increased skill and knowledge in performing required to match the high quality of the playhouse in turn brought more money to the performers. It is worth mentioning that until 1869 no playhouse with such magnificent architecture had been built anywhere in the Middle East. This one, built as it was of brick and having a capacity for many spectators, makes it comparable to the opulent Roman theatres. Despite this, however, there is no mention of it in any book written on the history of world theatre or playhouses. Scholars are trying to unearth details about this playhouse, which was demolished by the government in 1948. All that remain are a few photographs and drawings. However, based on the evidence, we can come to some conclusions about the building:
We know that the construction of the building was supervised by Moir-el-Mamalek, who was not a designer or a builder. As has been mentioned, Etemadol-Saltaneh spoke of a ‘group of engineers and masons’ who designed the building, but we do not know who they were or how they did the job.
We also know that the construction started in 1869 and finished in 1875. However, according to the evidence, the building was used for Taʹziyeh performances from 1873. Great use was made of the Takiyeh Dowlat after its completion. It was only after the Constitutional Revolution in 1906 that its popularity declined. When the Pahlavi regime replaced the Qajar dynasty in 1925, the building was completely abandoned. In 1948 the playhouse was demolished and the National Bank of Iran was built on its site.
We know that the Takiyeh Dowlat was circular and that it was unique among the takiyehs, as all of the others till that time had been square or rectangular. One reason for the circular design of the Takiyeh Dowlat may have been that the architects had been influenced by the mourning rituals of Muharram. In such rituals, the mourners usually stand in a circle and recite religious songs and beat their chests. We also know that the early performances of the Taʹziyeh were often staged in a circular form, regardless of the shape of the place of performance. A further reason for the circular design may have been that the architects had wished to emulate the design used for mosques. Mosques’ domes are circular and give unity to the whole structure of the building. There may have been many other, as yet unknown, reasons.
All the surviving written documents state that the Takiyeh Dowlat had four storeys, while in the photos we see only three. We now know that there was a fourth storey but that it was destroyed during the reign of Muzaffaridin Shah (1896–1906). The evidence suggests that the mass of the dome caused serious cracks in the fourth storey, so that it had to be removed and replace by iron arches similar to those used in the construction of Eiffel Tower in Paris. To carry out this reconstruction, a French engineer, Mounsieur Botan, who lived in Tehran, was sent to Paris and came back with the metal arches, which were put together with nuts and bolts. Surviving photos clearly show the new structure of the roof in the Takiyeh Dowlat.
I discovered in an interview with K.Motazedi, one of the first Iranian film-makers, that he had made a short film of the Takiyeh Dowlat in 1925 and later in 1936 sold it to an American missionary who took the film back with him to the USA. All my efforts to locate the film or the missionary have so far failed. Such a film would be a great help in studying the Takiyeh Dowlat.
In the twentieth century theatre practitioners such as Antonin Artaud and Peter Brook have sought to recreate the kind of theatre that linked the stage and the audience in a combined religious and secular theatre experience that we assume was the sort of experience that fifth-century Greeks would have had in their theatres. The kind of theatre that Artaud and Brook yearned for is one in which religious and social values plays so deep a part that the theatrical and the real are inseparable and indistinguishable. The Taʹ ziyeh is a living example of this kind of theatre.
A Taʹziyeh performance transcends the limits of formal theatre and takes both the performers and the audience into a new world in which the space is filled with imagination. A Taʹziyeh performance is a ‘mirror of the invisible’; something that formal theatre can never be…
NOTES
1 . For a detailed argument about the connection of ritual and theatre see George, David, ‘Ritual Drama’, Asian Theatre Journal, 4, 2 (1987), pp. 127–65.
2 . Voyage en Perse pendant les années 1812 et 1813, Paris, 1958, pp. 140–1.
3 . Voyage en Perse, Paris, 1947, pp. 101–2.
4 . Brugsch, Heinrich, Reise der K.Preussischen Gesandtschaft nach Persien, Leipzig, 1862.
5 . Taʹ ziyeh va Ta’ziyeh-Khani, p. 75.
6 . Voyage en Perse, p. 103.
7 . Brook, Peter, The Empty Space, London, Penguin, 1969.
8 . Muharram is the first month of Islamic calendar, the month in which Imam Hussein and his followers were killed in the plain of Karbala. Since there is a difference of eleven days between Islamic and Iranian calendars, this month moves every year in the Iranian calendar.
9 . Jerzy Grotowski argues that the theatre can exist without make-up, costume, scenery, stage, lighting and sound effects, but not without a relationship between the actors and the audience. He calls this actor-audience theatre ‘poor theatre’. The Taʹziyeh shares with Grotowski’s ‘poor theatre’ many essential features. See Grotowski, Jerzy, Towards a Poor Theatre, Methuen, London, 1975.
10 . Dastan-e Zandeghi Man, p. 288.
11 . The Martyrdom of Ali Akbar, Salah-Abad manuscript, p. 4
12 . Willet, John, The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht, London, Methuen, 1964.
13 . The mother in the performance I saw was played by a middle-aged man who pretended to be an old woman. I know, however, that Om-Liala was not an old woman at the time of the Karbala tragedy. Later I asked this actor why he had played her as an old woman. He could provide no real reason, other than the fact that the previous actor in their group had played it that way and that he had copied him. This is a good example of the way in which traditions of interpretation are passed from generation to generation in Taʹziyeh groups.
14 . See Roose-Evans, James, Experimental Theatre, London, Routledge, 1989.
15 . Namayesh, No. 47, Tehran, 1991, p. 46.
16 . Persia and the Persians, p. 392.
17 . Dastan-e Zandeghi Man, p. 390.
18 . Gobineau, Comte de, Religions et Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale, Paris, 1865, p. 350.
19 . Shabih-mozhack.
20 . ‘After about 501 [BC in Greek Drama], a large share of the expense of play production was borne by the Choregoi, chosen by the archon from wealthy citizens who performed this duty in rotation as a part of their civic and religious responsibilities. The Choregus (one was appointed for each author and for each dithyrambic chorus) underwrote the training and costuming of the chorus and probably paid the musicians. In addition, he may have supplied properties and supernumerary actors and may have met other demands (such as a second chorus required by same plays) not provided by the state’. History of the Theatre, p. 22.
21 . Religions et Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale, pp. 320–50.
22 . Namayesh, No. 4. Tehran, 1989, p. 6.
23 . Ibid., p. 2.
24 . Namayesh, No. 47, Tehran, 1991, p.12.
25 . Namayesh, No. 3, Tehran, 1988, p. 18.
26 . Namayesh, No. 4, Tehran, 1989, p. 9.
27 . There Are no Secrets, p. 42.
28 . We can see how Brecht was trying to achieve an analogous ‘cooling’ effect with his own form of ‘alienated’ acting.
29 . Dastan-e Zandeghi Man, p. 395.
30 . Scattering straw over the head is a sign of mourning.
31 . We might note that the only contemporary depiction of costumes worn in Shakespearean performance shows a similar lack of concern for historical accuracy. The costumes worn for the play Titus Andronicus are essentially Elizabethan with a few symbolic ‘Roman’ appendages.
32 . Throughout this play there is a cry for water at the camp of Imam Hussein. Imam Abbas makes it to the Euphrates river to fill a lambskin, but on his way back his hands are cut off. He catches the skin in his teeth, but the skin is targeted by an arrow and the water runs out.