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Art, Music & Culture
"They Passed from Here" Iraq's First Post-war Play

Haider Hamza, Electronic Iraq

18 May 2003


BAGHDAD -- The Al-Rashid Theatre is crying, because it's not whole anymore. Located next door to the old Ministry of Information, the theatre was bombed during the war, and looted afterwards. The building still stands, full of gaping holes and burned walls. The stage still exists, but all around it lays destruction. The Al-Rashid looks as though it's been abandoned for 50 years.

But on Sunday, 4 May 2003, a group of young, Iraqi actors made the Al-Rashid a theatre again, when they staged the first play in Baghdad after the war. They called it, "They Passed from Here."

The place was dark because there was no electricity, the theatre was only half-full, and the audience seemed to be composed mainly of foreign press, or the actor's colleagues and relatives. But somehow, this small, determined group of artists created a small miracle.

Abdullah Ali, in the audience, said, "Before the war I never saw such an honest play, although I have attended many plays. This time, the actors were speaking without any chains."

Always surprising, and chaotic at times - covering history, philosophy and commentary - the play attempted to paint a picture of life in Iraq today. The actors were in constant motion, sometimes speaking over one another. They never said anything directly, but instead depended on the audience to grasp the underlying themes.

"What is freedom, exactly?" the players asked.

The main theme of the play was survival, and, indeed, the players call themselves "Al-Najeen" -- the Survivors. The play showed that Iraq has survived the war, but the war is not finished. What's finished is only one face of it; the war of the bombs. Now, is the time for the war of the soul, and, while the winner of the war of the bombs was the one greater in technology, the winner in the war of the soul will be the one greater in love.

The play thanked America for overthrowing Saddam Hussein, but cautioned that Iraqis can't trust America in the coming struggle. Iraqis have to change their lives, their ways of living, and they have to change within themselves first. Saddam may be gone, but everything else remains, Saddam still lives within each Iraqi.

"Iraq can't just take hope," the players said in their written description of the event, "We have to create it ourselves."

Aala'a Hussein, one of Iraq's famous, young actresses, and a member of Al-Najeen troupe, later commented, "When I came here I was shocked. Everything's destroyed. I didn't imagine it was this bad." But Sheherazad, also in the troupe, said, "I felt so free and determined. I wasn't standing on the stage or even touching it. I was flying in the air.''


Published on 15 May in Al-Muajaha - The Iraqi Witness, an independent weekly newspaper. Al-Muajaha's website is coming soon at http://www.almuajaha.com/.