Youth troupe from Nasiriyah brings book-themed play to Basra street fair

BASRA — A youth theater troupe from Dhi Qar staged a short play on Al-Farahidi Street in Basra on Saturday, performing for visitors browsing bookstalls as part of World Book Day.

The group, known as Chapters, performed a 20-minute play titled “Books Have Souls.” Playwright and director Raheel Muzhir told 964media the work “talks about reading in a fantasy style, where the ‘spirit of the book’ enters the real world in the form of a woman and confronts people’s growing distance from reading, with a conflict unfolding between books and social media.”

The troupe traveled from Nasiriyah at their own expense. Muzhir said the journey “was enjoyable and difficult at the same time due to the large team,” but that they received a warm welcome on Al-Farahidi Street.

Actress Noor Al-Huda Al-Tamimi, who played the role of the book, said “presenting the show on World Book Day is an important message after printed books have been neglected in light of the technological revolution.” Actor Ibrahim Sahib said none of the group’s members studied the arts at university. “All of us are amateurs and our university majors are far from art and theater, and we are working to enrich Iraqi theater with meaningful works,” he said.

The troupe hopes to perform next in Baghdad, Mosul and Anbar.