On the evening of Saturday 16 December 2023, the activities of the inaugural Syriac Theater Festival, organised by the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region during the period of 14 to 16 December in Erbil Governorate’s Ankawa district, concluded.
The festival’s third and final day began its activities with a morning discussion panel, in the hall of the Hyksos Hotel, titled: “Dr. Awni Karrumi, A Journey Full of Achievements and Visions,” presented by the Director of Theatres in the Federal Ministry of Culture’s Cinema and Theatre Department, Raed al-Muhsin, and Iraqi theater director, the artist Ibrahim al-Hanun.
At the discussion session’s conclusion, Dr. Awni Karrumi’s family was honored with the festival’s award. This was received by Mrs. Nadia Karrumi, representing the doctor’s family.
As for the evening segment of the festival’s last day, it included two theatrical performances, as on the previous day – the first by the Institute of Fine Arts (Qaraqosh), titled: “Mim,” scripted and directed by Wisam Nouh Boutros, and performed by Khalid Majeed Tobia, Rama Basem Bashir, and Wasim Thaer Khader.
As for the second play, it was by the Bema Ensemble, and was titled “Karwa,” written and directed by Thamir Mikhail Bataq and starring Anas Zuhair Hanan.
After the theatrical performances, the Barmaya Syriac Ensemble, coming from the Syrian city of Qamishli, presented a show of folk dances drawn from our people’s heritage, after which the festival’s final statement was read by the jury. It included a number of recommendations and proposals for developing and sustaining Syriac theatre in Iraq.
At the conclusion of the closing ceremony, which was held in the hall of the Chaldean Culture Society, the festival’s appreciation awards were distributed to the president and members of the jury, as well as the festival’s president, theatre critic and novelist Sabah Hormuz al-Shani.
As for the festival awards, they were distributed as follows: Best Script for the play “Zuwagha Kharaya,” Best Actor Anas Oulu for the play “Karwa,” Best Actress Evin Baher for the play “Tobias,” Best Scenography for the play “Zuwagha Kharaya,” and Best Director to Dr. Nashat Mubarak for the play “The Firewood Rituals.”
The festival administration decided to award the Most Promising Actor award to Wasim Thaer Khidhr for the play “Mim.”
It is worth noting that the inaugural Syriac Theatre Festival was launched in the Ankawa district on Thursday 14 December 2023, in the presence of a large group of Iraqi, Kurdish and Syriac artists and playwrights, at the hall of the Chaldean Culture Society in Ankawa.
