Spring 2027
WOMARD will convene a conference on the depiction, through performance, of Abraham’s Binding of Isaac (Judaism, Christianity) or Ismaʿel (Islam) – an event that has very different interpretations in the three traditions. Comparing the portrayal of the matriarchs Sarah and Hajar in these narratives provides an important link between the project’s study of female figures and its enquiry into the dramatization of martyrdom and sacrifice. More information coming soon.
Live
- The WOMARD team have contributed pieces on Taʿziyeh (including audio recordings and photographs) to “The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin: An Online Exhibition of a Living Iranian Shrine,” an independent project directed by Keelan Overton. The Emamzadeh Yahya is an Ilkhanid monument (ca. 1260-1310) and a living sacred space. This online exhibition offers an alternative museological space for exploring the shrine’s many looks, functions, resonances, users, and stories over the last eight hundred years. It is hosted by Khamseen-Islamic Art History Online.
For the Taʿziyeh pieces see:
Deacon, Taʿziyeh-khani
Khalili, Performance of the Martyrdom of ʿAli Akbar.
Past Events
June 2-3, 2026
WOMARD Team members were delighted to participate in the workshop “Taʿzieh, Passions en partage. Au-delà du «théâtre religieux», repenser l’événement rituel performatif” and congratulate and thank Yassaman Khajehi, Julie Duvigneau, Neda Shahrokhi and Compagnie de Fanous for a fantastic event, and performance.
March 21, 2026
Directed by Elisabeth Dutton, The Trial of Thomas Cranmer by Anne Ridler, revived at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford: the site of Cranmer’s Trial.
December 18, 2025 Directed by Elisabeth Dutton and sponsored by The University of Fribourg’s Department of English La Comédie de la Nativité:
2025
September 24 – WOMARD Project Launch – a day of talks, short films, and lively discussion at the University of Fribourg introduced the dramatic traditions and the project team. Talks included:
-Prof. Sonya Yamploskaya, “Introduction to Purim Shpil: Biblical Drama and Carnival Satire.”
-Prof. Elisabeth Dutton and Dr Lucy Deacon, “Unmasking the Transhistorical: The Medieval Mysteries and Iranian Taʿziyeh Compared.”
– Dr Sara Khalili Jahromi, “Preservation, Prohibition and Provenance: Addressing the Mysteries of the Cerulli Collection of Taʿziyeh Manuscripts.”
-Prof. Babak Rahimi, “Taʿziyeh: Rethinking a Devotional Tradition,” and short film: “Muharram in Bushehr.”
September 24 – WOMARD Project Launch – a day of talks, short films, and lively discussion at the University of Fribourg introduced the dramatic traditions and the project team. Talks included:
-Prof. Sonya Yamploskaya, “Introduction to Purim Shpil: Biblical Drama and Carnival Satire.”
-Prof. Elisabeth Dutton and Dr Lucy Deacon, “Unmasking the Transhistorical: The Medieval Mysteries and Iranian Taʿziyeh Compared.”
– Dr Sara Khalili Jahromi, “Preservation, Prohibition and Provenance: Addressing the Mysteries of the Cerulli Collection of Taʿziyeh Manuscripts.”
-Prof. Babak Rahimi, “Taʿziyeh: Rethinking a Devotional Tradition,” and short film: “Muharram in Bushehr.”
2024
September 24 – WOMARD Project Launch – a day of talks, short films, and lively discussion at the University of Fribourg introduced the dramatic traditions and the project team. Talks included:
-Prof. Sonya Yamploskaya, “Introduction to Purim Shpil: Biblical Drama and Carnival Satire.”
-Prof. Elisabeth Dutton and Dr Lucy Deacon, “Unmasking the Transhistorical: The Medieval Mysteries and Iranian Taʿziyeh Compared.”
– Dr Sara Khalili Jahromi, “Preservation, Prohibition and Provenance: Addressing the Mysteries of the Cerulli Collection of Taʿziyeh Manuscripts.”
-Prof. Babak Rahimi, “Taʿziyeh: Rethinking a Devotional Tradition,” and short film: “Muharram in Bushehr.”
September 24 – WOMARD Project Launch – a day of talks, short films, and lively discussion at the University of Fribourg introduced the dramatic traditions and the project team. Talks included:
-Prof. Sonya Yamploskaya, “Introduction to Purim Shpil: Biblical Drama and Carnival Satire.”
-Prof. Elisabeth Dutton and Dr Lucy Deacon, “Unmasking the Transhistorical: The Medieval Mysteries and Iranian Taʿziyeh Compared.”
– Dr Sara Khalili Jahromi, “Preservation, Prohibition and Provenance: Addressing the Mysteries of the Cerulli Collection of Taʿziyeh Manuscripts.”
-Prof. Babak Rahimi, “Taʿziyeh: Rethinking a Devotional Tradition,” and short film: “Muharram in Bushehr.”
July 3, 2024 Comparing the dramatic presentation of Esther, deliverer of the Jewish people, with that of Zainab bint ‘Ali, revered within Shi’ism for her fearless resistance, and leadership through crisis, Dutton and Deacon present the paper ‘Esther and Zainab: Religious Heroines in Civic ‘Space’’ at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds.
May 24-25, 2024 Considering the use, or non-use, of masks or face veils in the portrayal of holy figures and spiritual encounters, Prof. Elisabeth Dutton and Dr Lucy Deacon presented the paper ‘Unmasking the Trans-Historical: The Medieval Mysteries and Iranian Taʿziyeh Compared’, at the conference Affiliations: Towards a Theory of Cross-Temporal Comparison, University of Oxford.
May 16, 2024 Daniel Boyarin, the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, and member of the WOMARD advisory board, visited Fribourg giving the talk “The Ambivalence of the Historian: Josephus caught between Peace and Andreia.” A big thank you to all who attended, and to you Professor Boyarin for the fascinating lecture.
WOMARD 