Thousands of Iraqis defied the threat of violence in Baghdad this week to flock to the National Theater for its first evening performances since the US-led invasion of 2003. To mark Eid Al-Fitr, the theater put on a political satire of the sort that would have been unthinkable under the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. The persistent violence that still dogs the Iraqi capital forced theater-goers to make their way to the performances on foot as police closed off roads leading to the venue for fear of attack.
Those who braved the risks were treated to a performance of acclaimed Iraqi playwright Ali Hussein’s new drama “Bring the King, Bring Him,” a satire that takes aim at the country’s politics since the invasion. The play is a commentary on Iraqi politicians’ failure to deliver on their promises of a new and better future after Saddam’s overthrow. It tells the story of a king who tries to persuade his subjects that he is taking care of their interests when he is only looking after his own and those of his courtiers. In a parody of the lawlessness of post-invasion Iraq, an angry subject then kidnaps the king and takes him on a tour of his kingdom to witness the people’s suffering in the face of an epidemic of murder, robbery and theft. The play’s title echoes a football chant made popular during Iraq’s victorious Asian Cup run last year: “Bring the Cup, Bring It.” The word king also sounds very similar to the surname of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. “The play has a strong political stamp, and we hope this will be the first step toward returning to political theater in Iraq after decades of being absent,” Hussein told AFP.
“These kinds of plays, which Iraqis could see in the 1960s and early 1970s, have long been missing from the stage.” After Saddam took full control of the regime in 1979, only light non-political drama was tolerated. “Iraq is controlled by the personal interests (of politicians) rather than them taking care of the interests of the people,” the 50-year-old playwright said.
