The Guardian‘s Lee Roberts reports on Iranian film godfather Abbas Kiarostami’s debut stage production of the Ta’ziyeh, a compilation of classic tales of the death of Mohammed’s grandson, Hussein. The plays are a traditional part of fervent religious festivals in Iran, but are often considered vaudeville in the West.
Kiarostami lets a troupe of Ta’ziyeh players do their thing on stage, while synchronized images of Iranian audiences’ reactions to the same play are projected behind them. The result: the Roman audience sees both the play and the Islamic audience’s more unabashed reactions to it.
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the making of, by greg allen