O Lord!

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. 

The Cart

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

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. 

The Widow

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.

Half Sack of Bullets

Kamilya is operating with all means to prevent Jewish settlers in the old city of Jerusalem from confiscating Haji Saleh’s old café. The haji is her late father in law. Half Sack of Bullets takes place on the cafe’s grand opening night, as Kamilya tells us the real story of the fall of Al Kastal.

A Moment of Silence

A young woman’s (Sheeva) life alternates between sleeping and awakening with 3-4 year intervals. Each awakening reveals a socio-political change, including revolution and war. While this life cycle is unfolded, the playwright who is in fact writing the young woman’s lifestory receives life threatening calls from the government’s secret agents.
The play has been widely admired for its innovative approach to playwriting and its audacity to bring to the surface issues of socio-political urgency. It has been translated to more than five languages and has been revived several times in the Middle East, Europe and North America. Its surreal narrative coupled with Mohammad’s poetic yet witty dramatic writing style addresses universal issues about freedom and security.

Wild Wedding

The play revolves around a meeting between a teenager and his mother, who was raped brutally by invasion soldiers, resulting in the young man, who was raised neglected and tortured for the sin of his mother. The play is significant as it represent a prophecy at the time of its writing (1991) for what actually happen in Iraq after 2003 with all its themes and symbols. The translation included a third character that was added by the translator (Alyaa A. Naser) for the significance of explains and clarifying ideas in the original script for the English culture speakers.

Ashes

A reporter is following a lawyer who trued to re open the case of a murdered woman by recalling her dead soul by her grave and interrogates her.

Women of Lorca

The play uses Lorca’ female characters to represent Iraqi women and their suffering first under the control of their own society and then by themselves as they gradually became addicted to the dictatorship of their own selves. Even when they try to break free of such control, the create a new controller by themselves.

The Most Dangerous Highway in the World

The play Hair gives a panoramic view of hair as a political statement through the monologues of nine characters from different cultures, ethnicities, colours, ages and sexualities It aims to bring to light the objectification of women through the commercial use of hair, through the heritage of fairy tales which transfer the ownership of the female body and hair to the man, and by examining the voyeurism projected towards hair. It also employs irony in some monologues, movement and dance. In one of the nine monologues, Hair speaks for itself and reveals many taboos about itself. There we can easily see Hair as a symbol of the unspoken oppression and dehumanization imposed on women and people of color. Another monologue is the voice of pubic hair, where we can also confront a tradition of patriarchy that enslaves, mutes, and infantilizes female sexuality.