Voices of Women from Afghanistan

Five female playwrights explore the lives of Afghan girls and women in the uncertain years before the Taliban retook Kabul. When The Huffington Post began to publish the work of Afghan female journalists in English (through a programme called Sahar Speaks), director and scholar Lesley Ferris saw the potential for turning their stories into pieces of drama. This ground-breaking book is the result of that vision, collecting together five plays that offer a unique glimpse into the lives, creativity and resilience of Afghanistan's women storytellers. Dancing To The Blast by Monirah Hashemi Dust Allergy by Nushin Arbabzadah Behind the Blast Wall by Sonali Bhattacharyya The Place of Shining Light by Yasmin Joseph Parwana: They Bear All the Pain by Alia Bano In her introduction, Lesley Ferris situates the plays in the challenging context of twentieth-century theatre in Afghanistan. Supported by reflections from the playwrights, and the original pieces of journalism that they are based on, the plays are illuminating, wry, surprising, and heart-rending. They open our eyes to what Afghan women wrestled with in the two decades between periods of Taliban rule, and remind us of what is being lost every day that women in Afghanistan are silenced. We hope that theatre-makers and educators at all levels will embrace these plays, and give them further life.

Lesley Ferris is an Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of Theatre Emeritus at The Ohio State University, USA. Jenny Morgan has worked as a documentary film-maker, writer and editor on a wide range of international stories and issues.

Introduction 1 DANCING TO THE BLAST 'Afghan Women Long For Their Campus Life A Year After Taliban Attack' Dancing To The Blast by Monirah Hashemi Reflections from playwright Monirah Hashemi 2 DUST ALLERGY 'Afghan Students Who Studied Abroad Are Hit With Reverse Culture Shock' Dust Allergy by Nushin Arbabzadah A Theatre of Tricksters: The Story of the Afghan Comedy 'Dust Allergy' 3 BEHIND THE BLAST WALL 'Kabul in 1979 and 2016: A Mother and Daughter Reflect on Change' Behind the Blast Wall by Sonali Bhattacharyya Interview with Sonali Bhattacharyya about her play 4 THE PLACE OF SHINING LIGHT 'I Dressed Like a Boy So I Could Go to School' The Place of Shining Light by Yasmin Joseph Interview with Yasmin Joseph about her play 5 PARWANA: THEY BEAR ALL THE PAIN '"I couldn't even scream": survival and abuse inseparable for Kabul children' Parwana: They Bear All the Pain by Alia Bano Reflection on her play by Alia Bano Bibliography