A performance and conversation of The Sitaraha (The Stars) by Monirah Hashemi

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right presented The Sitaraha (The Stars) by Monirah Hashemi livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 22 February at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -54) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 8 p.m. EET (Cluj, UTC +2).

GLOD
Romanian noun

1. Wet earth (soaked by rain water or melted snow)
2. Mud
3. Clay

From the Hungarian galád or the Russian глуда (gluda)

Monirah Hashemi was born to Afghan parents living in Iran as refugees. Discovering early the power of storytelling, she moved back to Afghanistan in 2004 at 19, where she started acting in films and co-founded Simorgh Film Association of Culture and Art. At 21, she wrote and directed her debut play, Cry of History, which was performed in Herat to a mixed audience at the country’s first educational theatre festival in 2006. The play, the first one in Afghanistan to be produced solely by women, went on to win the festival’s best play award in Herat and Kabul International Theater Festival and performed in National School of Drama Theater Festival in Mumbai and New Delhi in India.

Due to her involvement in theatre, writing and directing political plays she left Afghanistan and relocated to Sweden late 2013.

Sitaraha – The Stars, directed by Leif Persson, was her first work produced in Sweden; telling the stories of women in Afghanistan spanning 130 years to the present day. The play was staged April 2014, and since then toured in USA, UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy and Sweden.

Following Sitarah will be a panel discussion between Monirah, Afghan actor & activist Shala Nyx and long term collaborator of Monirah's - Asad Buda. The piece will have English subtitles and the discussion will be in English.

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Hosted by HowlRound Theatre Commons,

Coordinated by BÉZNĂ Theatre: A British Romanian theatre company making work that investigates societal inequalities & confronts institutional & normalised violences. Pivotal to our work are close collaborations with activists & academics during field research, inclusion of communities in our process & emancipatory actions to enact lasting change.

About HowlRound TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.