Tazieh veterans honored

TEHRAN,Jan.7(MNA) -- Five veterans of Iran’s tazieh (passion play) were honored during a ceremony held at Tehran’s Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum on Thursday. Taqi Azizi, Rajabali Moeinian, Reza Lankarani, Morteza Saffarian and Rahmat Eskandari were honored at the ceremony for their lifetime efforts in promoting the art of passion play in Iran and several other countries. The veterans, aged over 70, have been performing tazieh since their childhood and their children are now among the famous actors of tazieh, Persian news agencies reported on Friday. Organized by Art and Cultural Organization of Tehran Municipality and the Society for Iranian Tazieh, several speeches were also made on the importance of religious art at the ceremony. The Iranian passion play tazieh recounts religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales. Each performance has the four components of poetry, music, song and motion. Performers are always male, and female roles are played by men, most of whom are amateurs, who make their living through other means but perform for spiritual rewards. Tazieh was registered on UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in November 2010.