Young Actors Resurrected Shakespeare, AUIS Clapped for Them

Saman's funny moves excited everyone - photo courtesy of AUIS SC

On a sandy Thursday in Sulaimani, the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani came together to witness the AUI-S Shakespeare Company performing a Shakespearean play. 

Large crowds of AUI-S students and before them the faculty members arrived at the Sulaimani Culture Hall to watch "What's in a Name?".

The audience filled the seats in few minutes. The faculty members had hurried to take the seats at the front. Some of the actors' family members had also come to see their generations on the stage.

With pieces of music, interrupted laughters, and applauses between now and then, began the play. 

The Dialogues and speeches, though not very clear, caused great excitement among the students and faculty member. 

Ahmed al-Nuaimi, Hemn Muhammad, Kardo Kamil, Umnya Nadhir, Mina Bassam al-Attar, Shunas Hussein, Saman Karim, Huda al-Serhan, Anas al-Samarai, and Nawaf Ashur rocked at the play. 

Kardo Kamil, whose postures reminded many of Macbeth, spoke to Student Eye. 

He told us that he was overwhelmed with joy when he show all the respect and appreciation from the crowd. 

"i was very excited, especially when i stood on the stage and heard the crowd clapping for me. I appreciate what they have done for us and hope they liked it," he said.

Kardo has been working for more than two semesters on Macbeth's role. He says that he will miss Macbeth. He also told us the difficulty that they faced when preparing for the show.

"Shakespeare's language is difficult with too many complicated phrases. It is difficult even for native speakers. So the language was the main difficulty we faced," he stated. 

Jwan Farhad, an AUIS student from Ranya, appreciates the actors for their great performance. 

"The play was fabulous and the actors were really amazing. We all know that the Shakespeare's plays and language are not that easy but our AUIS students did their best. I am, as a sudent of AUIS , proud of today's play," she said. 

She only wishes to have better decoration next time. 

Afan Osman, another AUIS student, believes that the play was the best activity ever at AUIS. 

"I can't wait to see their next performance. The actors were all confident, brilliant, and they proved that they can do anything," he said.

AUIS Shakespeare Company, says Kardo, is not planning to repeat the show, but they have other plans. 

"We may start working on a complete play of Shakespeare. That, of course, will be more difficult and challenging," he said.