Light in a Time of War

by Aja Anderson

In these first days of the New Year, as we read of deaths in Pakistan and escalating tension with Iran, I bring a tale of glad tidings from the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Here a persevering American professor is challenging the clash of civilizations paradigm by staging the play Noor. As troops are welcomed home from Iraq, we read of a renewed sectarian violence whose timing seems almost ominously orchestrated. The news is grim, but a beacon of hope shines from the north of the troubled nation. Noor, which means ‘light,’ has “caused a sensation like never before” on the campus of the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani (AUIS).

“We didn’t know anyone wrote plays about us,” gasped the young Iraqi students at AUIS when their professor, Peter Friedrich, first introduced Noor to his class. The play, published in 2007 by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, tells a tale of three brothers attempting to rescue their sister, kidnapped during Ramadan. With its ambiguous setting, Noor could occur anywhere in the contemporary Muslim world, where families struggle to marry modernism with tribal, religious and cultural tradition. The young sister serves as a metaphor both for the wrenching experience of loss during wartime and the search for God’s light in their lives. Upon discovering the script, Friedrich, Senior Lecturer and Head of Drama and Film at AUIS, emailed Ahmed in October 2011 without expecting a reply. While highlighting the challenges of production, as the school has no stage, Friedrich maintained that “if you could see the students and listen to them, you would know that nothing will stop them.” So began a journey to stage a production in a country from which there is seldom any positive news.

Ahmed was delighted to receive Friedrich’s letter. “It is the best tribute,” he said, “for my message to be picked up by this young generation.” Although the drama students cast in Noor will receive no academic credit and will spend months rehearsing despite busy timetables, they expressed to their professor that the effort is well worth it. “I am sure American actors have done a wonderful job with this play, but they would never feel the real challenge behind the story as Iraqi actors will feel performing in such uncertain times,” one student observed. “Every single word and sentence resonates with our daily experience here in Iraq,” another confirmed.

AUIS has no affiliation with American University in Washington, D.C., but Friedrich stated “it is my hope that we can foster an international connection between theater artists, who can many times tell more truth than anyone else is able.” He cast Banoo Omer, a lovely Kurdish girl, as the passionate Noor, Mohammad Baheej as the fiery Daoud, Sarmad Kinany as the thoughtful Abdullah and Mahdi Murad as the practical Ali. The nascent stars, novice actors all, are learning the nuances of their professor’s craft, enriching the performance with their experiences growing up in Iraq. Friedrich spoke fondly of the different reactions each had to stage fright. Omer gesticulates wildly; Baheej shouts the ends of his sentences; Kinany adopts a Texan twang; Murad makes bizarre artists choices that send the entire cast into breathless laughter.

Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Friedrich moved west to pursue a graduate degree at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco. There he studied theater on the same stages used by fellow ACT grads Annette Benning, Denzel Washington and Danny Glover.  Following graduation he performed in a handful of independent films and appeared on Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street.  Peter then worked in regional theaters in New York until September 2001, when everything changed. After 9/11, “there was a feeling of urgency, and a need to take a risk to make a positive difference,” he said. Friedrich returned to California and began working as a teacher, training with the LA Fire Department and mixing in acting when he could. He discovered AUIS while reading an article in the New York Times. “At the time, I was working in schools that were a lot more dangerous than the school I’m in now,” he said. After writing a letter stating his interest and a series of intense interviews, Peter received an offer from the university. “They warned me—you might see people with guns—I told them I taught in South Central, and we moved on with the interview” he joked. In the space of a few months, he was off to Iraq.

After nearly four years, ruggedly handsome with his beard and tousled blonde hair, Friedrich describes Kurdistan fondly as the only home he wants. “When I visit a Kurdish village, I feel like the President of the USA—but it can be a guilty experience too, because you feel you haven’t earned the affection you receive.” His hosts are infinitely generous, fiercely proud, and staunchly pro-American. Reveling in his role as a mentor for his students, Friedrich mused “they’ve seen the worst—they are older and younger than me at the same time.” 

Friedrich’s passion is clear as he describes the preparations for Noor, which is tricky to produce beyond the need for props and costumes. The actors are a mix of Arab and Kurdish students, and if the news coming out of Iraq is any indication, this should be an explosive mix. Friedrich admits the dynamic can be tense at times, but it makes for satisfying drama on stage. During a particularly disturbing scene in Noor, soldiers burst into the house and force the family down to the floor. “The actors are an amalgam of ethnicities—marching together, being on your knees together with someone from the ‘other side’ has a profound effect, both on the students and on the audience,” Friedrich commented.

It is the ‘other side’ that is too often missing in the media reports. Why is it that CNN and FOX alike cover every instance of violence, and hardly any message of hope? As a member of Ambassador Ahmed’s team in 2007, I witnessed the play come to life from behind the scenes. Listening to Professor Friedrich relate his and his students’ reactions to the message behind the prose sent a shiver down my spine. The play is hard edged, controversial and thought provoking. The audience will squirm faced with challenges to conceptions of Islam, honor and duty to our loved ones. Yet Noor mirrors the search for God we all face, despite our interpretation of religion. We may live in troubled times, but as we begin 2012, we should look to the east and to the determination of these young students to bring us a brighter and better Iraq. Banoo, who will play the title role, asserts “Noor is the kind of girl that Iraq needs at the moment.”

Aja Anderson is the Program Coordinator & Chief of Staff for the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University’s School of International Service in Washington, D.C.