Presenting Ta'ziyeh at Lincoln Center

Presenting the ta'ziyeh at Lincoln Center in 2002 was a natural extension of the mandate of the Lincoln Center Festival to expand the reach of the institution by including cultural traditions not normally associated with it. Actually making the ta'ziyeh happen at Lincoln Center was very difficult, however. The initial idea for presenting the ta'ziyeh came from Joséphine Markovits and Alain Crombecque of the Festival d'Automne in Paris, both of whom had worked with the Lincoln Center Festival previously. In 2000, the Festival d'Automne presented a ta'ziyeh in Paris under the direction of Mohammad B. Ghaffari. Soon afterward, we began extensive discussions with Ghaffari in order to understand how the Paris production could be modified for an American audience.

Ghaffari traveled to Iran on a number of occasions and, on two of those trips, I joined him to see performers and review costumes. The major challenge of doing the ta'ziyeh in New York at first seemed to be one of identification. How could we "translate" an art form that had been almost exclusively staged for Iranian audiences who were intensely familiar with the stories being told? A typical American audience would have no connection with Karbala, no knowledge of Imam Hussein, little knowledge of the Qur'an, and certainly little knowledge of the early history of Islam. We could not count on a familiarity with the history of Persia or with the role of Shiism in the Islamic world.

There were also logistical problems. How would we bring individuals to the United States from a country with which America had no diplomatic relations for over 20 years? In addition, we were concerned that the relatively young children who usually undertake some of the roles in the ta'ziyeh might have difficulty traveling to the U.S. There was also the question of performance venue. Generally, the Lincoln Center Festival has held its performances in the Lincoln Center area and, after we had examined open spaces as far north as The Cloisters and as far south as Battery Park City, we determined that a tent in Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center was the only workable solution. David Balding, the director of Circus Flora, had recently bought a new tent and was also interested in buying some horses, solving two of the problems that faced us. He also agreed to help secure the camels and sheep necessary for the performances.

And then on September 11, 2001, devastation struck New York and the performance situation changed drastically.

Inviting a company to perform in Manhattan from an Islamic country that was subsequently branded as part of the "axis of evil" by President Bush became extremely problematic. There were extensive discussions within and outside of Lincoln Center about the desirability of continuing the program. Many of us felt that now, more than ever, it was important for American audiences to gain some knowledge of this rich culture, which was, for the most part, unknown to them. There were others who were concerned about security issues, both for audience members and performers. And, of course, there was the issue of getting visas for citizens of a country with whom diplomatic relations had suddenly deteriorated even further. After a good deal of soul searching and discussion, the Lincoln Center Festival was given the green light by Lincoln Center's board and management to continue with the presentation of the ta'ziyeh.

In order for the members of the ta'ziyeh company to be interviewed by an American Consul General, as is required for American visas, the members of the troupe had to travel to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. On the first visit, 28 individuals—all male, a few as young as 12 and one as old as 70—were interviewed by various vice-consuls in Dubai. Unfortunately, an interpreter in Tehran disregarded the specific instructions for individual company members to bring the required documentation: proof of employment in Iran, proof that they had strong ties to the community, and proof that they owned property. American authorities deemed such documents proof that there was less of a risk that...