Behrouz Gharibpour to restage Ashura Opera

The puppet opera "Ashura", written, designed, and directed by Behrouz Gharibpour, will be staged at Tehran's Ferdowsi Hall from July 12 to August 1, 2025.

 

 

Behrouz Gharibpour told Iran Theater about this year’s performance: “All of our works, including Ashura, are performed with the text and music preserved, but the stage design changes completely each time. Theater is not like a film that is repeatable; live performance means re-creation. This time, you will encounter a different staging and performance quality.”

                         

Referring to a break during the pandemic, he added: “Since 2008, when Ashoura was produced, we have performed it almost every year, and this performance is part of an ongoing artistic tradition in the Aran Group.”

 

He explained the unique features of the Ashura opera: "This work is still alive, influential, and fresh for the audience because of the subject of Ashura, which has a deep connection with the religious and cultural beliefs of the people. Ashoura was formed along the lines of Ta'zieh, but its structure and form are based on world opera; the result of my years of research on the common points of these two genres. Therefore, it can be considered an example of Iranian national opera."

Recreated by famous Iranian playwright and director Behrouz Gharibpour in collaboration with the Aran Puppet Group, the opera depicts the incidents leading to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) the third Shia Imam and his 72 followers on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram. 

The music of the opera is composed by Behzad Abdipour .The Ashura opera puppet show is an integration of music, puppetry, poetry and Ta’zieh (Persian passion play).