Ta’zieh scripts in Borkhar, unlike other areas in Iran, are not named after the poets who created them, but their place of origin.
In fact, these scripts include various poems written by numerous poets, most of whom were indeed not from Borkhar.
However, over several centuries, the people of Borkhar County collected and updated these poems and accentuated their religious aspects, making them fit for ta’zieh performances.
Ta’zieh scripts of Borkhar are quite rich in terms of quantity, reaching up to over 300 pieces.
They are remarkable in terms of quality too and fall into two categories: “tragic ta’zieh” and “comic ta’zieh.”
Tragic ta’zieh narrates the events of Muharram and Safar and other occasions such as death anniversaries of the Imams.
Comic ta’zieh, on the other hand, is a kind of shabih-khani, and in fact, it is mistakenly called ta’zieh by the masses, because the word “ta’zieh” comes from the root word “aza,” which means “mourning” in Persian, contradicting the comic nature of the performances.
The themes of ta’zieh dramas in Borkhar County include joyful events such as the births of the Imams, displaying the victories in early Islam such as the Battle of Khaybar, the victories of the Shiites over the killers of the Imams such as the apprehension and punishment of Imam Husayn’s killers by Mokhtar, and religious stories about Shia Islam and the Fourteen Infallibles.
Today, new ta’zieh dramas have appeared in this city as well, e.g. Majlis Golestan Atash in the evening of Ashura, which is performed on the first friday after Ashura.
These new works are still based on the old versions and use some of the best verses of the old poets. Nevertheless, the alterations made in them can clearly prove the creative capacity of the old ta’zieh performances.
Today, these dramas are staged throughout Isfahan Province, and Borkhar style of ta’zieh performances is sometimes named Isfahan style.
