The First Tears I Shed

Mahdi Murad(Ali) during the performance 

by   Mahdi  Murad

Photos by kait Taylor 

Before I went to the stage to perform in front of the audience, I felt that Noor was just a name of a girl, and nothing more! Between classes and getting ready for our opening night, I haven't exactly had the time to think about it deeply. However, I realized what an amazing name Noor was right on the stage, as I was acting. Every single word of the play meant Noor in my mind. Noor means light. Yes, it is a light that lightens every single dark corner of my home. As I listened to my fellow castmates on stage, every single word of the play showed me photos of the past. Usually, they were not pretty photos, and some brought tears to my eyes. It was even hard at times to say my lines.

If you could have seen the audience, you would have known that almost everyone lost someone very close to them in a war. I say a war because there have been many of them since the day we were born.

However, none of us have had the opportunity to cry for the people we have lost. We, Kurds and Arabs in the Noor cast, are joining hands together to shed the light of the life of every single person of our country. We gather together to shed our last tears to the sad events our people have experienced so far.

It is incredible to hear some people crying for war again. The headlines right now tell stories between the KRG and Baghdad, between the PKK and Turkey, and between the whole of Iraq and Iran. The drums of war, believe it or not, are beating again. But during our performance, we did not cry for war. We, the cast, stood together, as Kurds and Arabs, to cry for the innocent sons and daughters we lost. But it would be selfish to do just that. We also cried for the soldiers, on all sides, who gave their lives. We also cried out against corrupt politicians and greedy businessmen, to cry out a warning to everyone who thought someone was evil just because they spoke Kurdish or Arabic or English. We cried for all these things, but most of all, we cried for every Noor in every home, wherever she was.

Photos of the opening show of the play

Noor, Abdullah, and Daoud

Daoud, Noor, and Abdullah

Noor

Daoud

Abdullah and Daoud

Ali

Ali's dream

Flunky 

Daoud, Abdullah and Ali
The three brothers on the stage

The three brothers pray

The three brothers  imitate auntie Fatima

Noor cast 

Abdulla, Sheikh, and Disciple 

 The Deputy Minister 

Sheikh 

Disciple

The audience