How these Iraqi artists are breathing new life into ruined theater
Impatient with neglect by successive Iraqi governments for cultural development, a group of producers and performers has taken on the task of renovating a destroyed theater.
![Iraqi actors perform on the stage of the damaged Rasheed theatre in Baghdad May 4, 2003, during the first post-war theatre play in the city. Members of the Najeen group performed "They passed from here", a political performance in the country's main theatre which was burned, damaged and looted during the chaotic fall of the regime of [Saddam Hussein.] - RTXLYCE](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_large/public/almpics/2016/04/RTXLYCE.jpg/RTXLYCE.jpg?h=5021389d&itok=yWYpe_Po "IRAQ")
BAGHDAD — Covered in dust, Iraqi stage actor Alawi Hussein carried logs in a race against time. He and some of his fellow actors rushed to open Al-Rashid Theater in the heart of Baghdad on March 27, World Theater Day.
Hussein and his friends succeeded in renovating and reopening one floor of the theater on time to produce artistic and theatrical pieces and perform them on stage.
While watching a musical performance that night, prominent young stage director and actor Alaa Qahtan told Al-Monitor, “Our dream has finally come true. Al-Rashid Theater has come back to life and we can now perform our plays in it.” A concert, poetry readings and a theatrical performance were held to mark the opening night. Rain poured from the ceiling over the heads of spectators and actors alike. Qahtan told Al-Monitor, “The theater was not properly and professionally renovated, and it requires more efforts and money.”
Al-Rashid Theater, built in 1984, fell victim to the successive Iraqi governments’ negligence of cultural infrastructure after 2003. The theater was shelled during the invasion of Baghdad in April 2003, and the building was left in ruins. When local artists could wait no longer for government support, they decided to renovate it privately.
