Girl Blog From Iraq: Baghdad Burning is already causing a sensation with its unique documentary theatre style, adapted as it is from the weblog created by an anonymous young woman living in Iraq, 'Riverbend'. It's freshness and topicality is demonstrated even before it opens on the Edinburgh Fringe, as the company have incorporated the new material posted on Riverbend's blog last Sunday in response to the Israeli bombing of the village of Qana in Southern Lebanon. The actors in the Six Figures theatre company, Maha Chehlaoui, Patrick Edgar, Lameece Issaq, Marjan Neshat and Heather Raffo themselves reflect a wide variety of Middle Eastern origins - Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi - and some have been personally affected by the current crisis. They have been working since Sunday to incorporate some of Riverbend's furious and impassioned reaction to the events in Lebanon: "I woke up this morning to scenes of carnage and destruction on the television and for the briefest of moments, I thought it was footage of Iraq. It took me a few seconds to realize it was actually Qana in Lebanon. The latest village to see Israeli air strikes…. I just sat there and cried in front of the television. I didn't know I could still feel that sort of sorrow towards what has become a daily reality for Iraqis. It's not Iraq but it might as well be: It's civilians under lethal attack; it's a country fighting occupation... No matter the children who died last night- they're only Arabs, after all, right? Right? The show will be adapted similarly throughout August to reflect the content of the blog, which is irregularly updated. This is the first stage adaptation of Riverbend's blog, by Six Figures artistic director Kimberly Kefgen and literary manager Loren Ingrid Noveck. GIRL BLOG was premiered in March 2005 at the West End Theatre in New York. This new production will be its European premiere.| 2 Aug 06 to 28 Aug 06 | Pleasance Edinburgh Performance Details => Venue archive |
