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Article: Iraqi underground theater group moves into light with play on tyranny.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- May 3, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Tom Hundley
BAGHDAD, Iraq _ Bassim Al-Hajar, a 33-year-old Baghdad actor and director, has always had a subversive streak.
As an undergraduate theater student, he was kicked out of school for attempting to stage a production of Albert Camus' "Caligula," a play about a Roman tyrant notorious for his monstrous behavior and self-deification.
When Saddam's regime issued a decree that all newborns must be given Arabic names, Al-Hajar named his first son Arthur Rimbaud Al-Hajar, after the 19th century French poet whose short life was a study in alienated genius.
Banned from working in his profession, Al-Hajar drove a taxi to ...