MALALAI –
The Afghan Joan of Arc

The story of Joan of Arc is a national legend in France. A similar story is told in Afghanistan: Malalai of Maiwand was a Pashtun nurse in the Afghan revolution for independence from British colonial rule in 1880. When the Afghan fighters had almost lost all hope, Malalai made a flag from her headscarf, and holding it aloft, she charged the enemy. The soldiers turned and followed her, and ultimately won the day.

The political undercurrents of the two myths build the starting point of this theatre project developed with French, Afghan, German and Israeli actors and actresses. It picks up the baton where its predecessor, the 2016 production KULA – To Europe, had to capitulate when the Afghan actors were denied entry visas for Germany.

Directed by: Robert Schuster
Text and dramaturgy: Julie Paucker
Head of movement: Martin Gruber
Set and costume design: Eva-Maria van Acker
Sounds and music: Max Bauer

With: Gulab Jan Bamik, Hadar Dimand, Said Edris Fakhri, Ahmad Nasir Formuli, Marcus Horn, Thaïs Lamothe, Céline Martin-Sisteron, Abdul Mahfoz Nejrabi, Sulaiman Sohrab Salem, Jonas Schlagowsky, Romaric Séguin, Homan Wesa

World premiere. DNT and Kunstfest Weimar, 2017

A production by the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (DNT), the Kunstfest Weimar and the KULA Compagnie with the AZDAR Theatre (Afghanistan).

Co-production with the Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Theater Chur (Switzerland) and AZA (France). Funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation), the Goethe-Institut, the Institut français Berlin, the Institut français Erfurt and the Jeune Théâtre National (JTN).

Further performance on 21 Jan, 7 pm.