Skeleton of an Elephant in the Desert focuses on loneliness and murder. It’s about four characters in a destroyed city, about a circus on the frontlines of battles, about unmarked and un-murdered corpses, about a sniper postponing the death of a nurse, about who is documenting the incidents, and about the last witness.
Dushka is a dynamic play performed by five Syrian actresses, which tries to showcase the mechanisms of building dictatorships- the dictatorship of the ruler, the father, money, and every other controlling authority- and how we become their victim, because we did not resist it from the very beginning of its formation, and we have stood up to those who are trying to resist it.
Once They Die, They’ll Realize is the first of an identity performance series that was a part of the “Identities”project which aimed to research the process of putting the socio-religious rituals of the Arab World -particularly in the previously-called The Levant region, and the mixture of religions it accommodates (Islam, Christianity and Judaism)- in the form of theatre performance. This aim is to be achieved by researching a ritual’s movement vocabulary. With its form, indications and tokens; this vocabulary holds the possibility of being turned into an integral movement language that can eventually construct an identity of the Arab.
Written mostly in an Iraqi dialect, the play is adapted from Aristophanes’ AssemblyWomen. Naeem added new characters like the First Chef and the Second Chef, who are both comedic and sarcastic. She also changed the characters’ names and some of their motivations, and took out sexual content and references. The story of the play starts when the women gather in the parliament in the absence of their husbands to form a government. They try several tricks on their husbands, so they don’t come to the parliament, such as hiding their socks or underwear. The play ends with the women declaring the formation of the women parliament. Both Aristophanes’ play and Naeem’s adaption criticize the current parliament led by men.
Written mostly in an Iraqi dialect, the play is adapted from Aristophanes’ AssemblyWomen. Naeem added new characters like the First Chef and the Second Chef, who are both comedic and sarcastic. She also changed the characters’ names and some of their motivations, and took out sexual content and references. The story of the play starts when the women gather in the parliament in the absence of their husbands to form a government. They try several tricks on their husbands, so they don’t come to the parliament, such as hiding their socks or underwear. The play ends with the women declaring the formation of the women parliament. Both Aristophanes’ play and Naeem’s adaption criticize the current parliament led by men.
Baghdadi Bath depicts two Iraqi brothers as they struggle to survive in Iraq, both before and during the 2003 US-led invasion and ensuing occupation. The brothers wash and quarrel in the Turkish-style bathhouse that serves as the setting for much of the play. The two are, as it were, mired in filth, corrupted by their engagement as bus drivers with both Saddam’s thugs and American soldiers. They narrate atrocities in turn. The younger, Hamiid, is complicit in transporting political prisoners to their deaths by firing squad under Saddam’s regime and then relaying their corpses to a mass gravesite. Hamiid is confined in a military hospital for a month and refused payment for his services. In the final episode of the play, Majiid suffers at the hands of American soldiers after the two attempt to transport a political candidate from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad. Just after they cross the border back into Iraq, an exploding cigar kills the candidate. Trapped in a battle zone, Majiid buries the remains, but is then forced to unearth them at the command of American soldiers, [who later push him into the grave and cover him with dust. The play ends with Hamiid carrying Majiid to the shower and bathing him.]
In this play, a mother who has lost her children protests against God and negotiates with Moses. The woman is sent to speak with God as an ambassador for mothers of the country who have lost their children to war, violence, and sectarian and ethnic displacement. Moses meets with the woman as God’s representative in Tuwa Valley, where God spoke to Moses. The mother presents her demands: stop the killing and destruction, preserve the lives of the remaining children, and spread love and harmony among all people. If these conditions are not met within 24 hours, she vows that all prayer, fasting and other acts of worship will be stopped. Moses tries to persuade the mother that nobody can impose their will on God, and that the earth’s misfortunes are caused by the creature (humankind), not by the Creator. Moses fails to convince the mother, and so he invites her to pray to God until He responds. However, the mother refuses to do so. Feeling powerless, Moses leaves his staff behind in heaven, and joins the mothers in demanding that God fulfill their wishes.
A simple man named Hanoon possesses only his vegetable cart (arabana), with which he earns his livelihood on the streets of Baghdad. His obsession with the news provokes constant anxiety. The play starts as Hanoon’s wife, Fedhila, and their children, prevent the drunken vendor from setting himself on fire. Shortly thereafter, he dies of a heart attack in his sleep. Hanoon anticipates a conversation with Munkar and Nakir, the two angels appointed by God to interrogate the dead in order to test their faith and assess their deeds. Hanoon’s life plays out before his eyes. Back in school, he argues with his teacher about the truthfulness of certain proverbs and the meaning of the words ‘house/home’. In the military, he is humiliated at the hands of a sergeant. Later, a politician in the post-Saddam era tricks Hanoon into voting for him with empty promises, then disappears. Afterwards, Fedhila goes to meet with the politician (whose name translates as “whatever you want”), but he escapes out the back door. These episodes are followed by the appearance of Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor whose self-immolation started the revolution in Tunisia, which then spread to other Arab countries., He talks with Hanoon about their deaths and the deteriorating situation in Tunisia and Iraq. At the end, both Hanoon and Bouazizi exit, leaving Fedhila pushing the cart with her four children. The play ends with the sound of an explosion followed by that of the squeaking cart.
Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad is an Arabic adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. It starts with two brothers (Sunni Capulet and Shiite Montague) fighting over a ship their father had left them. Romeo and Juliet are young adults who had been in love for nine years. Juliet’s father wants to marry his daughter to one of Mujahideen who came to Iraq to fight the occupation. The feuding families prohibit inter-sectarian marriage and keep Romeo and Juliet apart. The second-oldest brother and his children live in poverty even as their labor enriches the oldest brother . With the passage of time, the conflict between the two brothers escalates and the enmity becomes stronger. Despite the objection of both parents, Romeo and Juliet decide to marry secretly in Al-Najat Church. Their decision is encouraged by their history teacher, who emphasises that inter-sectarian marriages continue to occur in Iraq despite the eruption of sectarian violence. In a fight, Romeo shoots Juliet’s brother dead. The play ends as both lovers are killed as the result of a suicide attack on Al-Najat Church.
Samir, an outspoken young professor of English drama in post-Saddam Iraq, has an affair with his favorite student, Nour. She is a widow whose husband was a general in Saddam’s army and was killed in the First Gulf War in 1991. Samir flees Iraq for Canada to escape sectarian retaliation for his liberal views, leaving Nour dealing with the consequences of her pregnancy. Samir’s mother helps Nour abort the child. Samir, a jobless refugee in Canada, struggles to make sense of his life, and thus returns to Nour in Iraq despite his family’s warnings. Samir proposes to Nour on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab, a popular meeting place in Basra. A car with two gunmen pulls over and they shoot Samir dead. The play ends as Samir’s mother silently joins Nour on stage.