https://journal.theater.ir/ Theater en daily 1 Sat, 22 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0330 Sat, 22 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0330 https://journal.theater.ir/article_196934.html Seymour Chatman belongs to a group of narratologists of the late period with a distance of two thousand years from the ancient period. In 1978, he published the book “Story and Discourse,” in which he discussed cinema by going through the narratology of stories. Influenced by structuralists, Chatman divided the narrative theory into two parts: story and discourse. “The term ‘story’ is used to refer to the content aspect of the narrative, and ‘discourse’ is used to refer to the expression of the narrative” (Thomas, 2022, 62). Then he separated the existential elements of the narrative in cinema and expressed his opinion. Chatman's explanation of the basic levels of narrative paves the way for an examination of other media. For example, the Bunraku puppet show, which is about four hundred years old, is a narrative of plays whose actors are puppets that are brought to life by three players. In this particular genre, the sound is separated from the stage and settled in a corner. The narrator tells the story of the characters with a range of emotions alone. However, puppet theater needs believability, so how does it convey the narrative to the audience as a medium? In this article, an attempt is made to model Chatman's theories in an analytical-descriptive way and to extract the existential elements of the discourse in Bunraku puppet theater, and then by addressing the limitations of the puppets, a narrative system is formulated between three visual, vocal, and musical aspects. https://journal.theater.ir/article_226275.html This research examines the reflection of the concept of deformation in Tatsumi Hijikata's Butoh performances, influenced by the paintings of Francis Bacon. In the post-World War II era, Japanese artists, including Hijikata, sought to redefine their identity, focusing on the body as a medium for expressing collective and individual experiences. Hijikata created performances based on bodily deformation to represent concepts such as decay, collapse, and disintegration, while Francis Bacon similarly expressed analogous themes in his paintings by distorting human figures. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of deformation in Hijikata’s Butoh and Bacon’s paintings using an intertextual analysis method, exploring how these shared concepts transition from visual media to live performance. The central question is how Bacon’s paintings influenced the representation of deformation in Hijikata’s Butoh. To answer this, two of Bacon’s paintings referenced in Hijikata’s Butoh-fu and two scenes from his performances are analyzed. The findings reveal that Hijikata did not merely imitate but adapted the theme of deformation through embodiment. Both artists, by deviating from classical narratives and breaking predetermined forms, sought to express an ambiguous and indeterminate truth. The results indicate a meaningful connection between Bacon’s paintings and Hijikata’s performances, demonstrating that Butoh-fu served as an initial framework for exploring deformed bodies and redefining post-war Japanese identity. At the level of artistic techniques, the research reveals that Hijikata employed three primary mechanisms in translating visual concepts into performance: structural translation (converting visual composition into bodily relationships), spatial expansion (extending deformation from the face to the entire body), and temporal transformation (turning the static moment of painting into a dynamic performative process). This study highlights the importance of a comparative approach in analyzing interdisciplinary influences in performance arts and suggests that deformation, in both media, served as a means of expressing the human condition in the face of existential crises. https://journal.theater.ir/article_228017.html Throughout the history of theater, many plays have been written with a focus on courts and legal issues; however, relatively little research has been conducted on courtroom drama. Therefore, examining courtroom drama as a popular theatrical genre is the main focus of this study. This research, while providing a better understanding of the performative potentials of the courtroom and courtroom drama, can also serve as a guide for creating new works in this field. In this direction, Goffman's drama theory, in which he considers everyday life as a stage, became a spark for us to consider the court in its social form as a drama (performance). Since we wanted to evaluate the dramatic aspects of the court, we turned to Richard Schechner's performance theory, which is a comprehensive book on analytical studies related to performance. This article demonstrates the extent to which the courtroom, as a social phenomenon, aligns with the principles of Aristotle’s dramaturgy. It also examines, in light of the concept of the primacy of drama, the intertwined roots of the formation of the courtroom and drama, and to what extent courts, with their dramatic potential, can serve as a source of inspiration for creating theatrical works. Furthermore, when they appear in plays (resulting in courtroom dramas), how do they correspond to the performance criteria discussed by Schechner and Goffman? For this purpose, we have chosen two court dramas, “In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer” and “The Portrait of a Woman,” because both were considered controversial and important trials in their time in terms of social impact, and both faced many ethical challenges. https://journal.theater.ir/article_226830.html This article undertakes an in-depth examination of theater practice through the lens of Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction, arguing that the rehearsal room is not merely a preparatory space but rather the arena in which theatrical meaning, roles, methods, styles, standard stage directions, hierarchical power relations, and implicit theatrical contracts are systematically dismantled and reconfigured. Drawing on Derrida’s critique of logocentrism—the privileging of speech over writing and the stability of meaning—it suggests that theatre rehearsals enact a parallel process: exposing and undoing the theatre’s logos in order to enable radical reconstruction. As Derrida writes, deconstruction involves not only destruction but also an understanding of how a “whole” is constituted so it may be rebuilt anew in rehearsals informed by a deconstructive approach; established theatrical structures—dramatic coherence, genre conventions, fixed roles—are deliberately destabilized. Change, fluidity, instability, and environmental flow become essential: the old theatrical order dissolves to make space for new performative systems. This methodology mirrors Derrida’s notion of difference, iterability, and supplement, relentlessly postponing fixed meaning and inviting reinterpretation and multiplicity in performance. A prime example of such a process is found in the work of Robert Wilson, particularly in his staging of Hamletmachine. In that work, the textual component is drastically minimized, while visual tableaux, lighting textures, soundscapes, body movement, and musical composition are foregrounded. Wilson separates acoustic text and visual choreographies, repeating tableaus from multiple angles to create a fragmented, “other” space that resists linear narrative, actively defers meaning, and delegates interpretative authority to the audience—hallmarks of a deconstructive performance grounded in a deconstructive rehearsal process. The rehearsal space thus becomes a philosophical site where dramaturgical logos is questioned and dismantled. This approach parallels Derrida’s broader philosophical critique, as he challenges how meaning is conventionally constructed and maintained through clear oppositions and hierarchies such as speech versus writing or presence versus absence. In practical terms, rehearsals adopting deconstructive procedures dismantle predetermined narrative unity and genre identity. Instead, they embrace openness to continuous transformation: roles may shift, scene order might fragment, and staging may emerge improvisatorially.The process invites instability, experimentation, layering, collage, and iterative reworking rather than adherence to a fixed blueprint. In doing so, these processes mirror Derrida’s methodological emphasis on bricolage—using available theatrical materials, rupturing conventional structures, and recombining elements to build new forms. Ultimately, the article argues that rehearsals structured around deconstruction help overthrow the hegemony of conventional theatre. By deconstructing theatrical norms in rehearsal, practitioners open up space for novel expressions, hybrid forms, and innovative performance designs. Confronting dramatic logic, genre constraints, and hierarchical director-actor dynamics, this rehearsal model creates fertile ground for experimentation: performances emerge that are nonlinear, visually driven, interpretively open-ended, and experientially dynamic. In conclusion, the article asserts that the rehearsal room becomes a practical locus for philosophical inquiry. Rehearsals enact the destruction of received theatrical meaning not as an end but as the initiation of creative reconstruction. In this way, deconstructive rehearsal processes not only challenge existing theatrical orders but also inaugurate fresh possibilities for performance, expression, and audience engagement. https://journal.theater.ir/article_231657.html With the advent of modernity in Persian literature at the beginning of the twentieth century, representations of Iranian women in drama underwent profound changes. The earliest manifestations of this new image appeared in plays directly influenced by or adapted from European models. Women were no longer depicted as sacred, transcendent figures but rather as earthly and social beings. In the years leading up to the Constitutional Revolution, female characters in plays were portrayed with greater freedom in expressing emotions and exercising individual agency. Yet, as the ideals of the Constitutional period faded, these representations moved toward a more socially grounded realism, most often within the context of domestic life and marital conflicts. With the rise of authoritarian modernization under Reza Pahlavi, however, a new archetype of the “ideal woman” emerged—an archetype aligned with the state’s nation-building policies. This figure represented the “modern mother,” who, while still confined to the traditional roles of devoted wife and mother, now appeared unveiled and redefined as a symbol of modernity. This article seeks to examine these transformations through the lens of Georg Lukács’s theory of reflection, which conceives literature and drama not as mere representations but as reflections of the totality of social relations. The focus is on Sediqeh Dowlatabadi (1882–1961), a writer and activist who, alongside her social and political engagements, wrote plays in alignment with the cultural agenda of the state. Specifically, her play “Motherly Love,” or “Dark Life,” is analyzed as a paradigmatic text that reveals how Reza Pahlavi’s policies on women were reflected artistically and how a new image of the Iranian woman was thereby consolidated. By situating Dowlatabadi’s dramatic work within both the broader history of women’s emancipation movements in Iran and the specific cultural directives of the Pahlavi regime, this study demonstrates how drama functioned as a vehicle for negotiating competing discourses of tradition and modernity. It also shows how the stage became a contested site where women’s identities were not only represented but also ideologically shaped, reflecting the tensions between grassroots reformist aspirations and top-down state reforms. https://journal.theater.ir/article_205335.html Intersectionality is a theoretical and practical framework that has its roots in critical race studies and feminist studies and is now widely used in various fields, including drama analysis. This theory reminds us that individuals' identities are not constructed from a single identity marker but rather from a combination of various factors such as gender, race, and social class. The interaction and mutual influence of these factors can sometimes lead to the formation of intersectional discriminations in an unequal society, which is a unique experience. Intersectionality, as an approach in drama analysis, provides a lens to see the representation of characters with multiple identities amidst these intertwined discriminations. The present study, using a descriptive-analytical method, seeks to answer the question of how the concepts of identity and intersectional discrimination are addressed in the characterization of the play "Sweat." The findings of this research reveal that Lynn Nottage, in the play "Sweat," has tried to portray multiple identities of workers in a declining society and the intertwined discriminations associated with these identities through intersectional characterization and highlighting the interaction and mutual influence of various types of discrimination, such as gender, racial, and economic discrimination. She has also reflected on the role of power, both within and across domains of power, in shaping these discriminations. Determining the social contexts with measures such as mentioning documented news and events that have made it possible to relate the presentation of social inequality in a specific society is another feature of this complex and profound play. Inequality that is not caused by a single factor but is shaped by multiple factors. The necessity of social justice is also highlighted by showing the consequences of neglecting marginalized characters, particularly in their interactions with other characters such as Oscar and the fate of Stan. These are all central themes that are also addressed in intersectionality theory. https://journal.theater.ir/article_190425.html Site- Specific Theater is directly related to the place and space in which it is performed, and both theater on the place and place on the theater can have a mutual effect. In this research, the place and space in Site Specific Theater in Iran have been examined in the last fifty years, that is, since the first modern performances were performed in special and non- theatrical places in Iran in the late 1340s in Shiraz Art Festival until today , when many theaters and festivals with This topic is being held. Three specific places of performance have been selected as case studies, which are: performance in historical places: Persepolis Complex and performances of Shiraz Art Festival, performance in natural places: Zaribar Lake in Marivan and performances of the International Street Theater Festival, performance in urban places: Daneshjoo Park and Theater Shahr area and outdoor performances of Fajr International Theater Festival. The thematic analysis method has been used to research and analyze the findings, and to select the themes, the opinions of important thinkers in the field of place and space knowledge, Edward Soja and the theory of the Thirdspace, which is one of the leading theories about place and space have been used. From this theory and its application to site- specific theater in Iran in the last fifty years, the overarching themes and thematic formats have been extracted in order to answer the question of how site-specific theater in Iran in the last fifty years uses place and space? In response to this question, it has been shown that site- specific theater in Iran, due to the reasons that the main one is not paying attention to the audience in site- specific and also following the power that governs the space, has not been able to have an impact on the place and space, or it is affected. https://journal.theater.ir/article_199814.html By establishing communication bridges across diverse cultures, civilizations and ideas and subsequently the growth of intercultural communication between different nations, Iranians inaugurate one of the most important cultural communication bridges, namely the show bridge, with the establishment of Dar al-Funun in 1266 A.H., to familiarize themselves with western theatre. By sending students to the West and then performing in theatres, theatre in Iran finds its plays in a new stage of adaptation, effects, and responses to these interactions. Since the first plays were exhibited with the creation of cultural organizations, especially in the case of the French Moliere, the culture of drama in Iran from the early stages has interacted with the translation and then adaptation of French works. The encounter with Western theatre, rooted in the Qajar era, resulted in the works of educated writers in the West, such as Rafi Halati’s comedies and one-act plays. One may come across some features of comedy in Halati’s one-act plays as inherited these features from the West – although Halati’s artistic taste, creativity, and proper style of his adaptation act according to the standards and social relations of that period should not be overlooked – the aim is to examine and compare Moliere's The Miser and Rafi Halati’s one-act play, thus reaching the similar characteristic of comedy and comic materials that can be an important phase in recognizing the characteristics of this important genre in dramatic literature . In this comparative analysis, according to the investigation and analysis of the type of comedy used in these works, the basic question is raised, what are the themes, elements and forms of this works that are important. In the axis of the results, the most important characteristics of the characters of the mentioned plays, comic situations, dramatic situations and the main event are discussed. https://journal.theater.ir/article_223164.html This article investigates the intricate dynamics of identity crisis and the role of Middle Eastern migrant artists within the framework of migration theater, focusing on the “Salam Peace” play collection through a postcolonial theoretical perspective. Anchored in Edward Said’s seminal concept of “othering” (1978) and Homi Bhabha’s notion of the “third space” (1994), the study elucidates how migrant playwrights skillfully employ linguistic structures, bodily expressions, collective memory, and narrative techniques to craft complex, resilient, and non-stereotypical identities that challenge prevailing cultural assumptions. The methodology is rooted in rigorous textual analysis and critical interpretation of three pivotal plays from the collection: Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith by Yussef El Guindi (2010), Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber, and A Song in the Ashes by Heather Raffo. These works serve as more than mere reflections of the lived realities of Middle Eastern migrants; they function as dynamic platforms for cultural agency, artistic resistance, and the deliberate reconstruction of identity in the face of dominant Western discourses that often marginalize and misrepresent migrant communities. The findings underscore that these plays, through their use of fragmented narrative frameworks, bifurcated linguistic forms, and evocative representations of traumatic memory, facilitate a profound reimagining and rewriting of the Middle Eastern migrant’s identity within a postcolonial cultural landscape. This reimagining is particularly significant in the post-9/11 context, where negative stereotypes and discriminatory narratives against Middle Eastern migrants have been markedly intensified. By creating liminal, interstitial spaces and subverting hegemonic cultural narratives, these plays contribute to a nuanced redefinition of migrant identity amid the complexities of globalization and ongoing cultural and political tensions. Consequently, migration theater emerges as a potent instrument for both resistance and cultural reinvention, encapsulating the individual and collective experiences of migrants while fostering a critical reexamination of concepts such as identity, belonging, and power within postcolonial discourses. This study highlights the transformative potential of art as a form of political engagement, offering fresh insights into the intersections of performance, migration, and cultural resistance. By doing so, it lays a robust foundation for future scholarly inquiries into the evolving field of postcolonial and migration theater, encouraging further exploration of how artistic expression can reshape societal perceptions and empower marginalized voices. https://journal.theater.ir/article_227786.html Honor killing, mainly the result of forbidden love and sexual relations has occurred in the real world, for example in human societies, and in the simulated world, for example in drama. The purpose of this article is to find answers to three important research questions. Has the theme and content of honor killings and forbidden love and sexual relations appeared in dramatic literature in a specific historical period and geographical-cultural context? The present research has come to the conclusion that the plays written with this theme and content , existed from the ancient times to the contemporary times and have appeared in most geographic-cultural context. The second question is who are those psychoanalysts and psychiatrists who have studied about the conscious and unconscious causes and motives of forbidden love and sexual relations and honor killings, and what theories and ideas have they expressed in this regard. ? The researcher has come to the knowledge that from the beginning of the 20th century until the present time, these study subjects have been studied and researched, and especially Freud, Lansky, Hart, Legerstee, wurmser and Heidrun, were psychoanalysts and psychiatrists who concluded that honor killing is the result of a type of morbid jealousy named paranoid jealousy. Another question of this research is the importance, validity and efficiency of the aforementioned theories and ideas expressed by those psychoanalysts and psychiatrists in the analysis and interpretation of plays whose theme and subject are forbidden love and sexual relations and honor killings. The researcher has tried to demonstrate that by referring and applying to those theories and ideas, it is possible to get a more correct and deeper understanding of the behavior of the main characters of the five selected case study plays. The kind of research method of this research is theoretical and qualitative. The method of collecting information and data is library and documentary, and it is completed and presented with application of analytical-descriptive method. The background of this present research is scarse and Lenski's research with regard to Othello is considered an exceptional example. https://journal.theater.ir/article_232534.html This study explores theatre within the logic of the market, positioning it as a social form of capital. The central question investigates how theatre, through its processes of production, distribution, and consumption, functions as a mechanism for the circulation and transformation of capital, and how these processes shape both form and meaning. The theoretical framework integrates Marxist, Bourdieusian, and post-Marxist traditions, while employing critical discourse analysis to examine power relations, patterns of valuation, and institutional mechanisms. The data include classical theoretical texts, contemporary critical studies, and secondary case studies (2009–2024) in the political economy of performance, encompassing both the structural aspects of theatre production and the embodied dimensions of performance. The findings reveal that five types of capital _economic, cultural, social, symbolic, and embodied_ operate in an interwoven manner in theatre’s production and consumption, remaining mutually convertible. These forms of capital not only provide resources and opportunities but also shape aesthetic structures, modes of organizing performances, and the positioning of the performer’s body. At the same time, theatre demonstrates capacities to distance itself from market logic, for instance through formal ruptures, collaborative modes of production, and value creation beyond capitalist frameworks. Such practices show that theatre, while deeply embedded in market mechanisms, is not fully determined by them and can generate spaces of resistance and experimentation. In this sense, the analysis highlights how theatre both reflects and contests the dominant economic order, oscillating between commodification and critical potential. Furthermore, the study emphasizes that the interdependence of capital forms extends beyond the artistic field, linking theatre to broader socio-economic configurations. Economic capital sets limits on accessibility, infrastructure, and sustainability, while cultural and symbolic capital influence processes of canonization and legitimacy. Social and embodied capital, meanwhile, foreground networks of collaboration, the lived experience of performance, and the corporeal dimensions of artistic labor. Understanding these entanglements offers a nuanced perspective on how theatre contributes to, and is shaped by, wider circuits of value. The research also underscores the importance of considering policy frameworks and institutional practices. Public funding systems, private sponsorship, and market-oriented distribution channels directly affect the ways in which theatre is produced, circulated, and consumed. These mechanisms create both opportunities and structural inequalities, influencing which aesthetic forms gain visibility and which remain marginalized. By drawing attention to such dynamics, the study situates theatre within the larger debates on cultural policy and the governance of artistic labor. The contribution of this research lies not only in offering a typology of capitals but also in demonstrating how these forms are constantly negotiated, converted, and contested in the theatrical field. This approach provides a lens to reassess the relationship between aesthetics and economics, showing that artistic creation is never independent of material conditions, but equally that economic imperatives cannot fully contain the imaginative and transformative capacities of performance. Ultimately, the study establishes a conceptual framework for understanding the political economy of theatre and invites interdisciplinary engagement across cultural studies, sociology of art, and performance studies. https://journal.theater.ir/article_233326.html Abstract: Sarah Kane has been arguably the most controversial British playwright in the past three decades. Her provocative and unique works, as well as her suicide at the peak of fame and youth, greatly impacted her contemporaries and successors in Britain and across the globe. In 1995, when her first full-length play Blasted was staged, there was uproar in the country. This work became one of the turning points in the history of British theater and led a wave of new plays known as “In-Yer-Face Theatre”. In her second full-length play Phaedra’s Love she did not repeat her previous success, however, still remained controversial. In this work Kane offers her only mythical adaptation, a contemporary version of the Greek myths of Phaedra and Hippolytus. By altering the time, place and storyline of her source text, Seneca’s Phaedra, she makes a mockery of the British royal family. Kane’s urban language, political references and taboo-breaking approach, along with the notes and interviews that reflect on her idea about theater, have made Phaedra’s Love a special case in the realm of adaptation. This paper seeks to answer how did Kane reflect on socio-political concerns of her time in the play? The first half of the article includes an overview about adaptation theory and the research method, followed by an analysis of Blasted, the predecessor of Phaedra’s Love. In the second half, the article focuses on Kane’s source material and her writing skills and strategies. To conclude, the paper summarises and analises the writer’s motives and approach in adapting Greek myths for the British stage. In short, Kane had major political and personal reasons to reframe Seneca’s Phaedra. Firstly, in the original story the theme of corruption in the royal family resembles that of British royal family in late twentieth century. Secondly, the writer’s depression could be represented in the form of the character Hippolytus. Kane provides a contemporary adaptation of an ancient text via changing the plot and dramatic language, adding and removing characters, maintaining the main themes, using sexual metaphors, appropriating the character Hippolytus, and criticising Western consumerism. The article elaborates on the adaptation process as well as the final product, and ends with a brief discussion on the reception of the play. https://journal.theater.ir/article_233965.html AbstractThis study examines the problem of evil in Iranian mythology, focusing in particular on water-related myths and drawing on Georges Bataille’s philosophical theory of the sacred and the profane. Bataille considers evil not merely as the absence or negation of good but as an active, tragic, and creative force intrinsically connected to the sacred and to the deepest dimensions of human existence. Based on this interpretive approach, the concept of evil in Iranian myths is analyzed beyond simple moral dichotomies of good and bad and is instead understood as a fundamental and necessary force operating within the very structure of existence, nature, and the cosmos. The myth of Tishter exemplifies this perspective, where the sacrifices offered to Ahura Mazda are not only life-giving forces but also ethical, spiritual, and sacred actions aimed at restoring and maintaining cosmic order, harmony, and justice. The battle between Tishter and Apaosha, contrary to purely natural, meteorological, or dualistic interpretations, encompasses ethical, metaphysical, and symbolic dimensions, and it reflects the active and inevitable presence of evil within the continuous flow of life, creation, and cosmic balance. A similar structural and thematic pattern is observed in the Indian tradition in the myth of Indra and Vritra, where acts of divine sacrifice and killing paradoxically result in the restoration of cosmic balance, moral order, and spiritual renewal. These concepts are also mirrored, reinterpreted, and dramatized in two modern Iranian plays: Nagahan by Abbas Nalbandian and Broken-Winged Angel by Ebrahim Maki. In Nagahan, life-giving elements paradoxically transform into destructive forces, and the sacrifice of Fereydun is interpreted as both a tragic, existential, and ontological necessity. In Broken-Winged Angel, the notion of sacrifice is linked to the process of awareness, self-realization, and liberation from human limitations, resembling the philosophical experience of escaping Plato’s cave. Despite formal and stylistic differences, both works emphasize that evil and sacrifice are fundamental components for understanding the sacred, achieving awareness, and reconstructing the cosmic order. https://journal.theater.ir/article_234971.html A Comparative Study of Sanford Meisner's Acting Technique and Terry Schreiber's Approach to Character Creation and Development: An Analysis, Critique of Concepts, and Practical Methodology Abstract Acting techniques serve as vital tools in enhancing actors' abilities to create and develop characters. Sanford Meisner and Terry Schreiber, through their unique approaches, have each explored how actors engage with dramatic characters. Meisner’s technique enables actors to achieve truthful presence on stage by eliminating intellectual interference. In contrast, Schreiber places strong emphasis on analyzing deep psychological layers to uncover a character’s hidden motivations, enabling the actor to maintain a dynamic relationship with the text. This study separately analyzes Meisner’s exercises—such as repetition and moment-to-moment responsiveness—and Schreiber’s practice designs that foster an actor’s interactive engagement with the text for character analysis. It then compares the two approaches. The aim of this research is to conduct a comparative examination of Sanford Meisner’s acting technique and Terry Schreiber’s approach to character creation and development, thereby enriching acting pedagogy through a deeper understanding of effective character-building strategies. This is an analytical-comparative study that uses a library-based method for data collection. Data analysis is qualitative in nature, and non-random sampling has been employed for selecting participants. The findings suggest that although both methods aim to achieve realism and authenticity in performance, and differ fundamentally in their methodologies and philosophies, they can be complementary. Integrating Meisner’s spontaneous, stimulus-driven responses with Schreiber’s deep psychological analysis offers a comprehensive framework for understanding, creating, and developing believable characters. Keywords: Acting techniques, character creation and development, Sanford Meisner, Terry Schreiber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . https://journal.theater.ir/article_235979.html The main issue of this research is the theoretical and practical gap in the field of how dramatic games affect the systematic development of children's moral intelligence. Despite numerous references to the potential of these arts, the lack of an integrated operational model that clearly explains the dimensions, components, and mechanisms of this relationship is clearly felt. Addressing this gap is important because it can provide a solid scientific basis for designing targeted educational interventions in schools and prevent programs from acting on whims. The theoretical framework of this study was a combination of social learning theories, a competency-based approach, and the Computer as a Social Actor (CASA) paradigm, which highlights the role of simulated situations in the internalization of values. This research was conducted by applying a qualitative systematic review method and analyzing the content of 80 studies selected from reputable scientific databases between 2015 and 2025. Data were collected using standard PRISMA and JBI checklists and then analyzed through three-stage coding (open, axial, and selective) within the framework of grounded theory and with the help of ATLAS.ti software. The final findings led to the extraction of a six-dimensional model that forms the core of moral intelligence cultivated in the context of drama. These dimensions are: perspective-taking (with indicators of role-taking and cognitive flexibility), empathy (including emotional resonance, compassionate concern, and helpful action), self-regulation (including impulse control, emotion management, and reflection), conscience and norm internalization (including collective norm development, responsibility, and moral reasoning), respect and tolerance (with components of dignity and diversity), and justice (including distributive and procedural justice). This model provides a valuable operational roadmap for educators, curriculum planners, and school psychologists to systematically cultivate moral competencies in children by utilizing the potential of dramatic play.It can also be of great help to parents of students in this regard. https://journal.theater.ir/article_241840.html This study aims to provide a classical reinterpretation of the concept of Hamartia in relation to ethical entitlement within Aristotle’s thought. Hamartia, which plays an indispensable role in the realization of Aristotelian tragedy, has gradually drifted away from its original meaning and has often been interpreted as a form of “moral lapse” or “sin.” The historical investigation reveals that the root of this deviation lies in Islamic philosophy—particularly in Avicenna—who, by employing the concept of zalal (error or slip) as the equivalent of Hamartia, introduced an ethical–juridical reading of the tragic fault. This approach was consolidated during the Middle Ages and continued into the Renaissance through interpreters such as Castelvetro. Conversely, commentators such as Robortello, Sperone, and Minturno sought to revive the cognitive and human dimension of Hamartia—an effort that, in the modern era, has been renewed by scholars such as Stinton, Golden, Kim, Vinje, and Sackey, leading once again to the dominance of the cognitive interpretation over the ethical one. However, most of these studies have overlooked the connection between Hamartia and the notion of ethical entitlement. To reconstruct Aristotle’s original meaning with interpretive precision, several fundamental presuppositions must be accepted: the internal coherence of texts, the consistency of the philosopher’s thought, the stability of the interpreter’s standpoint, and the assumption of uncorrupted and unified meaning. Based on these premises, a conceptual analysis of the Poetics and the Nicomachean Ethics shows that the tragic error arises from ignorance of the particulars of action—an error that becomes truly involuntary only when accompanied by subsequent remorse. Hence, the audience’s compassion and, ultimately, catharsis, the telos of the Aristotelian tragic system, emerge under these conditions. Accordingly, Hamartia should be understood as a “cognitive error under necessity,” a form of constrained ignorance that gives rise to tragedy and catharsis. This reading, while remaining faithful to the spirit of Aristotle’s thought, rearticulates the relation between tragedy, choice, and ethical responsibility in a renewed philosophical horizon. https://journal.theater.ir/article_242396.html Brook’s theory of the “holy Theatre” redefines the function of language in performance. For Brook, language is not merely a medium for conveying information or facilitating everyday communication; it is a vehicle for revelation, invocation, and the manifestation of unseen forces and transcendent realities. holy language, in this view, must open a portal to dimensions beyond the ordinary_inviting the audience into a space of mystery, depth, and spiritual resonance.This article explores the capacity of language in Bahram Beyzaie’s Death of Yazdgerd to align with Brook’s notion of holy theatrical expression. Rather than serving as an instrument of linear narrative or straightforward message delivery, the language of holy theatre_as envisioned by Brook_must evoke a heightened experience: profound, transformative, and metaphysically charged. The analysis is grounded in Brook’s theoretical framework and applies his criteria to the text of Beyzaie’s play to assess its degree of holyness .From Brook’s writings and conceptual foundations, eight core features have been distilled that characterize holy language in performance. These include qualities such as brevity, paradox, sonic resonance, symbolic density, imagistic power, and non-verbal suggestion. Among these, six traits that lend themselves to textual analysis are selected as the basis of this study: conciseness, paradox, linguistic imagery, metaphysical resonance, non-verbal potential, and symbolic compression. The findings indicate that Death of Yazdgerd exhibits a strong affinity with holy language in several domains. Notably, the play demonstrates a high degree of verbal economy, with 95% of its language reflecting conciseness and precision_qualities essential to Brook’s ideal of a distilled, charged theatrical idiom. Moreover, paradoxical structures_juxtapositions that challenge rational comprehension_constitute 52% of the analyzed content, reinforcing the play’s alignment with Brook’s emphasis on contradiction and tension as vehicles for transcendence . Linguistic imagery and mental visualization, which evoke internal landscapes and archetypal scenes, appear with reduced frequency (24%). Likewise, the use of non-verbal or musical elements_important in Brook’s holistic model of performance_comprises only 8% of the textual strategies, suggesting a limitation in auditory and sensory evocation .A further obstacle is the presence of violent language and motifs, which account for approximately 15% of the script. While violence in itself is not antithetical to holy drama, its unmediated presentation can conflict with the contemplative and transformative aims of the holy mode.In conclusion, this study finds that approximately 65% of the language in Death of Yazdgerd aligns with the principles of holy theatre as outlined by Peter Brook. The play demonstrates a partial but significant movement toward holy theatrical language, suggesting Beyzaie’s sensitivity to metaphysical and spiritual dimensions within dramatic form. Yet, it stops short of fully embodying the holy, remaining suspended between the poetic and the transcendent. Thus, Death of Yazdgerd may be seen as a work in transition_a powerful attempt to touch the holy without fully crossing its threshold.