Iraqi town stages 'Mud' trio play

'People' satirized hardships of post-invasion life

By BRYAN PEARSON

BAGHDAD -- Residents of Kut in southeastern Iraq, who just over a month ago cowered in their homes when Shiite gunmen battled the Iraqi security forces in the streets, turned out in their thousands for a rare dash of comedy May 4 and 5.

The laughs were provided by three actors from popular Iraqi sitcom "Mud House" -- Anam al-Rubayai, Ali Dakhil and Majid Yasin -- who were roped in to perform the first comedic play in Kut since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The play, "People and People," highlighted the quirks and lampooned the hardships of post-invasion life in Iraq "to entertain the audience and to give them hope and optimism for the future," said al-Rubayai.

About 1,500 people crowded into the Municipality Hall on Sunday for the first performance of the play, which was sponsored by the U.S. State Dept.

Iraqi police estimated another 3,000 people were waiting outside the theater hoping to get seats. The large turnout prompted a repeat performance the following day.

Iraqi officials said the successful staging of the play was an indication that Kut, capital of Wasit province, had quickly returned to normal after the upheavals at the end of March.

Dozens of people were killed and scores wounded when Shiite fighters battled Iraqi police and Army troops during a nationwide crackdown in late March on militiamen, most of them loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The crackdown is now focused mainly in Sadr City, bastion of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in eastern Baghdad, and the southern port city of Basra, but calm has returned to other Shiite areas in Iraq, including Kut.

Iraqi security forces handled security for the two perfs, which passed off peacefully -- albeit uproariously.