Specific theatrical forms have been developed in many geographical-cultural areas of the world which are indigenous to those areas. Ta'ziyeh is a kind of comprehensive indigenous form considered as being the national form of Iranian theatre which have pervasive influence in the Iranian works of drama and play. It originates from some famous mythologies and rites such as Mithraism, Sug-e-Siavush (Mourning for Siavush) and Yadegar-e-Zariran (Memorial of Zarir). Ta'ziyeh was developed in the Safavid period (1502-1736 CE) in Iran when the king of Iran allowed Ta'ziyeh groups to perform it at Muharram time. It is one of the most highly developed and powerful examples of passion play which mostly recounts the tragedy of Hussein and his followers. It is the only serious tragedy in the Islamic world which ever developed in Iran and India. Currently, different theatrical styles and methods are intermingled without regards for the limits and boundaries, which are manifested in a performance. Subsequently, in the contemporary setting, many directors and playwrights have been influenced by the form and content of Ta'ziyeh and apply it in their works. They have brought the 'form' and 'content' of Ta'ziyeh and combined them with western influenced theatre styles to create a new genre of works. This new style is known as 'eclectic theatre' or 'eclecticism' and is a new style in postmodernism which can be manifested in connection with theatre activities of Iran. For instance, Pastoo- khaneh's (Amjad, 2000) is taken from the traditional plays such as the 'farcical plays' (takht-e-hozi and kheimeh shab bazi) and Hamey-e Pesaran-e Kaveh (Kaveh's All Sons) (Rahimi, 1994) is obtained based on selection and combination 'dramatic storytelling' in association with western theater. The intend of this study, designed a conceptual framework based on the relationship and participation of actors and audience in theatre alongside ritual and religious aspects. In order to recognize the dramatic value and considering the strong moral principles of Ta'ziyeh performance and Western theatre, Ta'ziyeh and Brecht theatre analysed. Ta'ziyeh performers are regarded as actors. This raises the question of what cab be the differences between the notion of 'acting' and 'performing' in these two types of performance. The problem is an 'actor' in relation to events that are regarded as sacred and ritual truths. To address this question, the definition of the critical elements in both forms of theatre, their structure and also the 'V-Effect' in Brecht theatre is comprehensively discussed. Finally, investigating a theatre production based on eclectic theory and conclusions of study were made.
About the Author: Farideh Alizadeh received her BA (undergraduate) degree in 'Set Design' in 1988 and her MA in 'Theory of Art' in 2005 at the Faculty of Art & Architecture, Islamic Azad University of Tehran (IAUCTB). She worked as a 'scene and costume designer' between 1997and 2006 in Tehran, Iran. In addition, she has been lecturer from 2005 to 2011 at the Faculty of Art & Architecture, (IAUCTB). She then graduated her Ph.D degree in the field of 'Drama' from the Cultural Centre, University of Malaya (UM) in Malaysia in 2015. She worked for two years (2012-2014) as a candidate at the Bright Sparks of the University of Malaya. Since 2014, she is Research Assistant working with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Nasir Hashim at the UM. Her major interests modern theatre, include literatures, mixed modern and traditional studies (eclectic theatre) and Cultural Studies. As a creative writing, she published Plays Eclectic (1981-2001) as a drama, academic book, and articles, too.