After years working undercover or in exile, Afghanistan's actors are attempting to revive their art.
Since the fundamentalist Taliban fled the city on November 12-13, male and female actors have returned to the vast but under-equipped premises of Radio Afghanistan, which has become their main employer.
Around the microphones they alternate skits on daily life, rising prices, and family feuds with educational playlets.
When the Taliban took control of the city in 1996 Hamed Tabesh -- who had studied drama, Pushkin and Chekhov in Moscow -- was broadcasting in the same studio in the guise of a mullah proclaiming religious precepts.
A few months later, the militia decided his programs were not sufficiently Islamic. Hamed found himself idle but kept his salary.
"I survived but it was misery," he says.
Shakila Alkozai returned to Kabul ten days ago. As a star of the "message" films produced under the communists in the 1980s, she spent the Taliban years in exile in Pakistan.
"Coming back from the bakery I saw their (Taliban's) four black cars parked in front of our house," her husband recalled.
He warned his wife, who fled the country with only the clothes she was wearing.
Interviewed at the radio station Tuesday during her first audition, Shakila spoke of her joy at being home.
"I do not wear a chador (veil), I have not heard a bomb so far. I am happy to be here and free. I do not even have stage fright," she said.
During her time in exile she worked for a Pashtun-language radio in Peshawar and achieved fame under the name of Zamzama. On Tuesday she took delight in playing the role of an overworked mother.
Afghanistan's actors must grapple against the odds.
The city's sole theatre, which had staged adaptations of Moliere or Brecht, burnt down in the early 1990s after being hit by mujahedin fire.
The film producers, many of whom worked on politico-social movies which disappeared along with Najibullah's communists, have fled the country.
Only one Afghan film has been made since 1992.
"The Summit" dealt with the holy war waged by mujahedin fighters but featured only male actors. Women were banned from appearing.
For some days two actors have been charged with tracking down former fellow members of their profession, according to the Ministry of Information and Culture, which also manages the radio and television station.
Actor and director Daoud Lodin, 38, would one day like to tackle real-life themes. He cites the Taliban's rule and the British and Pakistani interference which characterized Afghanistan's history.
In the meantime Khaksar, a highly popular comic star, is delighted simply to be able to make people laugh.
"It is so significant. Under the Taliban people were unhappy. I want to make my people laugh to comfort them," said Khaksar, 46, who is also a college history teacher.
"There are few young actors," he lamented. "For five years (of Taliban rule in Kabul) young people were isolated from culture and education. It is now necessary to try to bring them closer to it." -- AFP
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
