Karbala Drag Kings and Queens

Abstract

This collection of articles traces ta'ziyeh from its origins in Karbala in Iraq through its development as a serious dramatic form in Iran; its adaptation in Lebanon, India, and the Caribbean; and its debut on Western stages, culminating in a 2002 performance at Lincoln Center in New York City and a historic symposium at the Asia Society, where this issue got its start. Karbala and the relationship between Shiite and Sunnite Muslims, the origins of which are represented in the plays and rituals that commemorate the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, have become major preoccupations of the Western media since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. An examination of ta ziyeh reveals many of the historical, cultural, religious, and political paradigms that have made Karbala the touchstone for Shiite Muslims everywhere.

Ta'ziyeh historians claim that the introduction of veils into the passion play was meant to cover the fact that only men and children took part in the representation of the Karbala tragedy. Women did not participate as actors—or, rather, role-carriers—on the public stage. To depict female characters such as the daughter of the Prophet, Fatemeh, mortal men donned the veil. This minor "twist" has had major consequences for the ancient traditions of painting in Qajar Iran (1785-1925). Samuel Peterson writes:

During the last half of the fifteenth century and until the Qajar period, the veil was an exclusive attribute of holy personages and was not used to cover the faces of women. However, once it became in ta'ziyeh productions a standard part of the costume of women—a sign of their modesty [...] it becomes in Karbela paintings a standard feature of Alid women. No longer used so consistently as the sacred symbol it formerly had been, in Qajar religious painting the veil is ascribed somewhat arbitrarily to holy figures; thus the faces of the Shi'ih Imams appear veiled and unveiled.

(1979:79)

On the stage, the tone of the voice and the presence of the veil indicate the gender of the character in the ta'ziyeh performances. Young men with soft voices portrayed female characters; young girls performed certain minor female roles until the age of nine—the age of maturity.

One of the early Qajar performers of women's roles, Haji Mulla Hussein from Peek Zarand-Saveh, played female characters so well that each year he had to leave his farm for the months of Muharram and Safar in order to perform at the Takiyeh Dowlat (Royal Takiyeh). In the late Qajar period, Mulla Farj'ullah Sangani, Haji Mulla Hussein, and Gholi Khan Shahi were three of the most famous female role-carriers and were specifically hired to play the role of Imam Ali's daughter, Zinat (Beiza'i [1965] 2000:143-44). With the introduction of the gramophone to the Iranian court under the rule of Muzzaffar al-Din Shah, Gholi Khan Shahi's became one of the most recorded voices of the period (Reja'i 1994:29).

According to Bahram Beiza'i, the female role-carrier would wear a long black shirt which was sometimes decorated with flowers and which reached down to the back of the leg. A second black piece of fabric would cover the head, the arms, and the hands. A third would cover the face, so that only a sliver of the eyes and the fingertips of the actor would be visible. The female characters who belonged to Yazid's camp would wear the same costume, but in red (Beiza'i 2000:145).

Western observers of the ta'ziyeh during the modern period—travelers and diplomats used to the European entertainment traditions—commented frequently on the lack of attention paid to the historical accuracy of costumes in the dramatic presentation of the ta'ziyeh. The Orientalist scholar, Edward G. Browne, observes that the performance of the ta'ziyeh on the 7th of Muharram 1888 C.E. was "spoiled in some measure by the introduction of a number of carriages, with pastilions barbarously dressed up in a half-European uniform, in the middle of the piece...