Full Description
Five female playwrights offer short but intense experiences of the lives of Afghan girls and women in the brief, perilous years before the Taliban retook Kabul.
When Huffington Post began to publish Afghan women journalists writing in English (through a programme called Sahar Speaks), producer Lesley Ferris saw the potential for turning their reports - unique glimpses of Afghan women's stories and the creativity and resilience of Afghan women storytellers -- into pieces of drama. This groundbreaking book is the result of that vision.
The five plays, and the journalism they're based on are illuminating, wry, surprising, heart-rending. They open our eyes to what Afghan women wrestled with in the two decades between periods of Taliban rule, and remind us what is being lost every day that women in Afghanistan are silenced.
In her introduction, Ferris situates the plays in the challenging context of twentieth-century theatre in Afghanistan, and laces her text with examples of Afghan women's landays: short, often sarcastic poems composed on the fly in women's gatherings, and unknown in the West.
Contents
Introduction
1 DANCING TO THE BLAST
'Afghan Women Long For Their Campus Life A Year After Taliban Attack'
Dancing To The Blast by Monirah Hashemi
Reflections from playwright Monirah Hashemi
2 DUST ALLERGY
'Afghan Students Who Studied Abroad Are Hit With Reverse Culture Shock'
Dust Allergy by Nushin Arbabzadah
A Theatre of Tricksters: The Story of the Afghan Comedy 'Dust Allergy'
3 BEHIND THE BLAST WALL
'Kabul in 1979 and 2016: A Mother and Daughter Reflect on Change'
Behind the Blast Wall by Sonali Bhattacharyya
Interview with Sonali Bhattacharyya about her play
4 THE PLACE OF SHINING LIGHT
'I Dressed Like a Boy So I Could Go to School'
The Place of Shining Light by Yasmin Joseph
Interview with Yasmin Joseph about her play
5 PARWANA: THEY BEAR ALL THE PAIN
'"I couldn't even scream": survival and abuse inseparable for Kabul children'
Parwana: They Bear All the Pain by Alia Bano
Reflection on her play by Alia Bano
Bibliography
