Iraq play is a tragicomedy
Actors perform in Bring the King, Bring Him, a two-act cabaret-style show that opened this month at Baghdad’s National Theater. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi actor Falah Ibrahim, left, performs in the darkly comic commentary, which has drawn large crowds despite the risks of going out in Baghdad. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
An actor plays a suicide bomber in a scene from Bring the King, Bring Him in Baghdad. The play opened this month, hours after a car bomb shook the National Theater, crumpling the dressing room ceiling and bruising two of the actresses. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
This is the boldest play in Iraq, director Haider Munathar says. It will make the politicians sensitive. You know, the role of the actor is no less important than the politician. My actors, literally, break through barricades to make life. Thats honorable. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
The audience applauds during Bring the King, Bring Him. We were sold out the other night. The Iraqi people have pushed past their state of fear. Life is coming back, actor-director Haider Munathar says. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images)
