The Exchange of Themes and Image in Theatrical Games and Classic Persian Poetry: A Focus on Acrobatics and Puppet Shows

Persian poetry has been a vehicle for reflecting plays and theatrical games, a source if absent might reduce the quality of performative arts. Accordingly, this study attempts to show which themes and features of the plays have been most prominent in the Persian poetry, and in this interplay, what the poetry has gained from the play, and which themes and images are taken from the world of play. The research method is descriptive-analytical based on the library study and document analysis. Two programs called Erfan e Noor and Darj have also been used. This study shows that the Persian poetry has retained some of the features of the play, and more attention has been paid to two games called acrobatics and puppet shows. Reflecting the themes of the play, the poets have paid more attention to theme creation and their poetic imagination, and the imagination based on the play has a significant role in this regard. The earliest Persian poets of Dari as well as the contemporary poets have reflected theatrical themes in their poems; from Ferdowsi and Manouchehri to Qa’aani and Farahani. Among them, Nizami Ganjavi has paid more attention to this aspect than the others. Also, for the first time in this study, the mystic attitude towards the plays has been examined; it has been realized that they have often used the allegorical form of the plays. The mystic allegories are rather codified. They are similar to Khayam's philosophical allegories. In terms of literary analysis, most images are created by metaphor, simile, allegory, and coded allegory.