“During the first ten days of the [lunar] month of Muharram everyone likes to take photos with tazieh performers but when it is over, tazieh turns into a parasite,” he said
He lamented that tazieh has been omitted from university courses and also criticized the lack of any plan to record the tazieh performances and the dearth of any proper TV programs on the traditional dramatic art.
He said, “A number of tazieh performances recently streamed online in Tehran and Qazvin has been welcomed. Of course, we first felt doubt but the result was satisfactory and the troupes also found out that they can have more of an audience through online performances.”
He added that members of the association give performances at night, though their performances have been recorded ahead of time during the current situation of coronavirus spread.
“Although these days of the pandemic are the best days to record tazieh performances, veterans refuse to perform since most of them are old and are more vulnerable to the deceases and prefer home quarantine,” he remarked.
“Unfortunately we are losing our veterans before their performances are recorded and registered for the interested youth and researchers,” he noted.
He called tazieh a rich treasure which can attract many tourists to the country and added, “They would like to see our national culture and do not have much interest in watching foreign plays.”
Galledarzadeh had earlier said that tazieh performances should not be halted, and these ritual plays can be performed during Muharram observing health protocols despite the pandemic.
“Tazieh is a ritual performance, which dates back centuries ago in Iran and is performed during Muharram. It is not only a kind of performance but also a ritual play people have belief in,” Galledarzadeh had said.
“Tazieh has long been liked by many from the old days, and many gathered to watch the performances, and that is why Dowlat Tekyeh was built,” he said.
Dowlat Tekyeh was a place for seasonal Islamic ceremonies that was built during the reign of Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah near the Golestan Palace in downtown Tehran.
Source: Tehran Times