Ta’zieh

Conceived by Nikoo Mamdoohi and Q-Mars Haeri
Written by Q-Mars Haeri and Ifa Bayeza
Directed by Nikoo Mamdoohi

Procession begins outside the main entrance to the Fine Arts Center; performance is at the Campus Center Plinth (above the Blue Wall)*

Thursday, April 27, 2017, Opening Night at 5:30 p.m.
Friday, April 28, 2017, Performance at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 29, 2017, Performance at 2 pm
Sunday, April 30, 2017, Performance at 2 p.m.

A Ta’zieh starts with a procession: live music, costumes, bystanders drawn into the celebration. This Iranian tradition has evolved into a worldwide event that brings people together to work through community struggles and clashes through music, drama and spectacle. Iranian theater artist Nikoo Mamdoohi recognized that Ta’zieh’s core elements resonate with our own complicated racial history, and she and writers Q-mars Haeri and Ifa Bayeza are collaborating on a new cross-pollination of Iranian and African-American words, music and rituals, using this ancient mythic practice to address tragedy and conflict in our own time.

*in case of rain, performances will be in the Curtain Theater; procession will still proceed from the Fine Arts Center entrance.

Director: Nikoo Mamdoohi
Dramaturg: Ifa Bayeza
Music Director: Sabrina Victor
Costume Designer: Richard Nguyen
Sound Designer: James Busker
Stage Manager: Liz Diamond
Assistant Director: Urgyen Joshi
Assistant Dramaturgs: Jerry Ng and Afrikah Smith
Assistant Costume Designer: Elizabeth Ponce
Assistant Stage Manager: Maeve Connolly
Cultural Advisor: Mohammad Ghadiri