“The Ten”, “The Marauder” and others… A Ramadan series that revives Iraqi drama

After many years of Iraqi drama going to the lowest level, the current Ramadan season has renewed hope in the hearts of Iraqi audiences, after the remarkable growth shown by Ramadan works, some of which have been completed, which is reflected in the satisfaction. People who have expressed their belief about the development stage that has emerged.

During the current Ramadan season, nearly 20 plays were produced, and most of the plays showed improvement in acting, screenwriting, directing, and the general format of the work, attracting a wide range of works. followers.

These works include the series “The Ten” starring the leading actress Alaa Husayn and “Al-Maroud”, which brought together a group of pioneers of Iraqi theater such as Mahmoud Abu al-Abbas, Jawad al-Sukraji and others. In addition to the “Khan Al-Dahab” and “New Baghdad” series, it was well received by the followers.

Iraqi drama and renaissance

The current Ramadan season for Iraqi drama represented an exceptional season in terms of plenty of production and new faces, with some old faces returning to the screen and bringing in many young actors with high performances.

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About that remarkable development, international musician Naseer Shamma wrote, I try to follow what Iraqi theater has to offer during the month of Ramadan. It is clear that a qualitative change has begun to emerge in Iraqi production, and a significant change. It has started attracting new faces from the youth at all levels related to art production.

Shamma said; I can’t follow all the new ones, but the works currently being shown, some of them are exemplary in accepting new, contemporary topics, creating hope for a new generation of actresses and actors to increase the future of Iraqi theater.

Shamma concluded his speech by saying, “A salute to the Iraqi intellectual who realized that Iraq will succeed in its future only when it restores its ancient status on the cultural map in all fields.”

Keep up the compliments

For his part, poet and writer Hamid Qasim called the “New Baghdad” and “Marotand “Ten” and “Guide” and other works; The spirit has been breathed into Iraqi drama after a long hibernation, so a thousand greetings and praises to the creative friends; Bassem Qhar, Miqdad Abdel-Rida, Mahmoud Abu Al-Abbas, Jawad Al-Shukrchi, Rana Jaafar, Alaa Hussein, Khalil Fadel, Asia Kamal, Wissam Diaa, the list goes on. Mahdi Talib, Mustafa Al-Riqabi and all who contributed to this wave, we hope it will last and not fade away.

On the other hand, the poet Ibrahim al-Behrazi saw a renewed faith in Iraqi drama, which the season worked to polarize the Iraqi audience and rob him of his preference for Egyptian, Syrian, and Gulf productions. A growing critical trend in communication pages, some see it as a form of arbitrary populism and condescension. Since artistic production is the property of the people, it suggests the opposite, and a simple person says it is a useful survey for theater makers.

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Al-Bahrisi confirms the emergence of new and famous names in terms of writing, directing and acting, and that emotional theatrical performance has fallen to a lesser degree than in previous years, indicating the presence of artistic awareness. Actors have the difference between acting in a play and acting in a play.

Although the poet al-Persi admired some of the works, he found the production process, which he believed to be still stingy, observing this by blinding scenes in exaggerated darkness or relying on mockery and embellishments to hide the poverty of production. Blatant exaggeration, therefore, requires secondary actors and extra attention.

Iraq Drama Controversy

On the other hand, in Iraq, debate is raging on social media and even in “Parliament” about what is being described as “irregularities in Ramadan television work”; Apart from the “Muawiyah” series, which was banned by Iraq, two more series started their screening at the beginning of the current Ramzan and created a stir.

The first series, “London Patch”, is produced by the Saudi “MBC” channel, about the story of a Kuwaiti writer who talks about the diaries of female students from different Arab countries in London, the British capital.

The series prompted Iraqis to object to Iraqi women as “distracting”, and the controversy turned into a public relations crisis between Iraqis and Kuwaitis, with Iraqis accusing the Kuwaiti drama of “deliberately” defaming Iraqis.

The other series is an Iraqi drama series called “Al-Qasir”. He ordered the local “UTV” channel to stop the series.

The show drew criticism from political parties, most of them close to Iran, including the “Asayib Ahl al-Haq” militia.