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  Kasim Matrood    
Dateless Dead Men…
A Play


For quite a long time, I have been looking for a new form to find a theatrical text convenient with the innovations of modern times, I hope that this text, which I called the horizon of theater would reflect part of that form. So there is the possibility to present this text, and to make it different in many ways depends on the ability and the imagination of the producer’s performance to be offered within:
1-Theater of Hakawati(story teller) with some spare accessories.
2-Theater of the street to be as the show space using the architecture, land marks and the extinction.
3-Circular Theater, where the space of the roof is used.
4-Theater of the Caddy adopted simple décor.
5-Theater of the tongue, involving some spectators in the game.
There are many forms of theater that can be used so as to provide the script.



The characters:
The actor
First character
Second character
Third character
All these characters are personified by the actor.

The actor: I am a simple actor called (mentions his real name) I really have some appreciated experiences, but I got a problem in this performance involving the director and the author. This I’ll tell you about on condition that we could think about the solution. The author writes his script with more than one character. In fact each character talks alone with no relation with other character different completely in time, place and status.
You may call it (Monodrama).
Are there in this show-room any dramatic critics "examining the show-room) I think so, therefore let them assess the quality of the presentation.
But the director insisted on the oldest of all these characters.
"Whispering" I’ll tell you a secret. I am happy because it is an evidence of importance and ability to embody all the roles.
"Back to what he was" you will see that shortly.
"Whispering" and perhaps the director and producer thought about the budget of the presentation to find another character best for them economically.
So let us agree to ally and make the show away from them as the director, admitted to hospital, has increased pressure, diabetes, and the author delivered his text and did not attend any training acclaimed that he does not want to spoil the director's vision.
I’ll personify the figures in agreement with you, and I’ll inform you when I will be "He mentions his real name" or the character.
I’ll leap from a square to another; this is the evidence to be in the character or out of it.
This is my opinion, away from them, as I said; if you have got another view to formulate the game I’m ready to hear it.
"For a while, he listens to the audience. The idea is to create the show with, otherwise it couldn’t be there.
Let’s Start now:

"waiting for the response of the public, if not he insists on hearing the result until he hears the sounds.

He can sit on the front of the stage or descend closer to them to move them so as to hear the answer when he hears noth am I? For Sure you know me because I have just mentioned my name, but before we start let’s practice the game.
Our theatre is basically experimental and I always tend to the experiment because it’s renewal and life, I think it has been philosophized so often, let’s try the game:

I am "he tells his name" If I jump like this "jumps from a square to another" I’ll have entered in the personal and if she returns so "jumps" I have left them to engage in other personal or return to the personality of origin or comment on the event.

Anyhow it is easy and I’ll enjoy it by night and if you face any difficulty, I’ll call off the show because you and I are the most important in this game, the author does not exist, and director may have died in the hospital.

Be frank please, have I expatiated upon you?
This is our problem: the dialogue. We talk, and talk aiming to supply you the event through the images of the life

"speaks to himself" listen to me, you "tells his name" that’s enough, introduce the characters, please I focus on me, I’ll jump deeply inside the character, it’s great , do you like it? "Jumps to another square"

The First character: "tracks" I am not a hero, I have nothing at all, my tale is very simple, it is that while the playwright was watching a movie of Alexander the Great or Salahiddin Al-Ayyubi and war films, he decided to write this play, and due to his featuring perceptions that he did not know the name of a soldier of the thousands of soldiers who were led to the Holocaust by their leaders to come under the arrows and catapults and to be stepped on by the horses, history didn’t preserve the names of the commanders and senior officers..

He asked himself about those poor who were dated in the history as numbers, and suddenly arose to his memory and the reason is simply because I live in the same street where the author grew up and found me one of the soldiers of Alexander but killed by more developed weapons

In fact, I didn’t have any relationship with him and all that was just salutation between us to say:
HELLO
He replied: HI

He was so polite that had nothing to what was happening in our neighborhood, we didn’t know when and where he was coming or going and I am so surprised like you, how he chose me first among his characters.
It seems to me that he was watching me as well as others, this is the nature of the authors, let us from the author.
I was killed in a battle which I forgot its number, sadly it was not the hardest battle, fighting the enemy very much, I didn’t know the reason, and I fired bullets in the air, for fear of death, or in search of the enemy, who was lurking me, but my death was not heroic, It was normal, it coincided with the date of my first day of service after my monthly leave, perhaps you know, that we sometimes were granted five days after each month of the humanitarian drought and the absence of real life and the brutality being shared our bed.

"Saddened" I spent the whole leave, lying in the bed feeling sick and my moaning was heard by the neighbors, I never played with my child or sniffed him.
And as I did not stupefy a single day of the military service, not because I am a nationalist, but I was afraid. To be afraid, you say think that I am "Whispering"
A COWARD

Yes I am so, fearful, frightened from the commander, when I heard that he would pass through our brigade I shuddered, but if I was told that he wanted me to stand in front of him, better not tell you about that, a coward, even my wife mocked me and rebuked me often, and I was always silent and didn’t have any response What could I do?
Feeling fearful is being in my blood.

"Short period of silence"
I haven’t told you yet how I died?
"Moment. Painfully," and I held my bag in which a piece of bread and some vegetables were folded in a newspaper. When I shouted:

- Do you want to execute me?
Finally I found bags of paper to put the piece of bread in.
"Moment" She tried to prevent me from going back because she noticed me pulling my legs difficulty and as if I were half-dead, but I decided to join, and I think you know why.
I didn’t use to listen to her advice or her prediction because I was always fearful, believe me, I do not lie to you, I lived my whole life feeling afraid
As I am dead now I am not shy to scream: I was a coward

Even in the leaves accompanied with my wife and my son when I was accidentally meeting any military rank in my home city or in the street I often got confused and often greeted them with military salutation: "Whisperingly" being afraid.

"Short period of silence"
That day our military unit was subjected to heavy shelling, while I was heading to my unit to inform them about my coming so as not to place my name with late-comers. This means my death in the area saturation without judgment, and before my arrival to the Registry Unit
The actor: "jumps to another square" Registry Unit, for so called the office in the army.

Incidentally, I benefited from my service in the military a lot, because I am an actor and I like the vocabulary items for I had heard there some words I did not hear out of service, for example, park cars I see more poetic of parking, the important thing that Our friend arrived to the Registry Unit "jumps to another square"

First character:
All I remember, I saw our unit officer smiling to me as he was standing in front of the Registry Unit, in the meantime accelerated missiles began to target our detachment.
Then I suddenly disappeared, but the most important thing was that the officer smiled and knew that I arrived without delay Tribute

«Short while he advanced... towards the public: “coward”.
The actor: "jumps to another square"
Poor man, do you believe him? I do.
He is alike many, when I was in the army as I spoke to you before; there was the first corporal, once he told me:
The officer is not an ordinary person, he is another creature and may have been descended from the sky or from another world we ignore it.
The actor: He glorified or feared them, but in another way, for more than twenty days he did not confer his military uniform fearing that he might face the officer, who is not with the whole military uniform» while" miserable

"Short period of silence"
They, dateless figures, fearful of sleeping pad, know nothing about the happy dreams, we can nominate their life catastrophic, so far if you sit with someone you call him: "Another voice" You are really dead.
Whether you know this fact or not, you didn’t live your life.
There may be an error in personality.
"Back to what it was" but I sympathize with them and therefore I agreed to personify their characters that I don’t love, what do you think to move to the second character?

"Asks the public» to begin «he listens, but he does not hear anything". So let’s start, Look... I’ll jump over there because the second character is waiting for me on that square "jumps back to another square and begins to personify the character"

The second character:
my serial family is the fourth however, I only completed the study, and because my parents loved me so much, I can say:
Love with privacy among others of my brothers, that’s why my father decided to send me to Yugoslavia to complete my university studies and to escape from death, which snatched youths.
Precisely I reached Yugoslavia, where I toured through the streets, which surprised me.
A week later I decided to return home.
"Moment" for me the home is my family, my friends, the streets, alleys and the memories that I have.
My decision has nothing to do with false slogans and national staff members.
I felt homesickness, fear and diagnosed me impossible to eliminate my days there alone without friends and tales of alleys and parking in front of yards to follow football matches taking place in our city, so that I reserved the first plane and returned back.
Actually my father did not believe my return when I pushed the door getting in the house holding my suitcases, with no change.

It seems that he knew about my fear and sadness, that’s why he didn’t ask me any questions, except some words were satisfied with what happened to me, but he was so sad as if he knew what would happen to me next. I went to the Institute of Health, where I studied for two years, which were the nastiest period in my life because they began to follow me so often in my short trip.
They often laughed when I said:
- I suffered from homesickness.
Someone told me:
- Because you are stupid. To tell you the truth, I didn’t understand why he told me that even after my death.
“A moment”
I became their permanent client and whenever they were calling me I prepared the same answers. To be repeated on heart.
"Short period of silence"
I terminated the couple of years disappointedly, and repeatedly tried to find a girlfriend, but I always failed.
It seems to me as wisdom says:
- You’ll die, with no wife and offspring.
"A moment"
When I finished my study and before getting the results, a statement was broadcast on television and radio:
“All graduates of this year have to join the military service within 48 hours”.

"Short period of silence"
This is my story.
I think it’s over.
Do you like to hear the rest? «moment"
I told you earlier that my story is not strange, it’s with no championship any more to raise your resolution as they used to tell you about the great heroes of the wars.
I am one among numbers of countless people; I do not know why the author chose me.
This is what he knew about me, in fact there is much he ignores as far as the matter concerns me, but he took what it concerned him that means it may be right.
Let me complete what he wanted to tell you, because he wrote down these lines no more.

"Back to what it was performing"
I joined the call before the end of 48 hours to the training center. Could I delay and death threat is on electricity pylons?
I imagined that they might sack me out of the service due to the weak sight, perhaps focusing on the size of the lenses without which I can’t see anything, but they did not notice it, also didn’t ask me anything about.
I received my military uniform and boot. I also got my funny cap which was similar to the flying saucer that I had to put on my head.
"moment painfully" They gathered us like sheep in large buses and began to beat us with sticks to hurry. We became as if we were canned in the sardine tins, we were in need to sniff the air, and the lucky one whose head near the window.
They didn’t tell us our direction and we didn’t dare to ask any questions.
But we knew the direction later, it was the unknown destiny, the only thing which reassured us and made frightening thoughts away from us was the civil bus.
We expected that would be moved to another camp because of the large number of soldiers like me, but the dream dissipated after our arrival to the large Camp loaded with tens of military cars.
We did not hear or understand anything except Descend...Ascend
Using their batons!

During this time we knew to disembark from civil buses and leave this life forever, and rise to the military buses to enter the world of desolation and blood.
Our situation wasn’t much better in the military autos than in the civil ones, bur it was much worse.
"Short while, suddenly “days not wish to be even to enemies”
"Continues" five days and nights we were in the cars which carried us to unknown frightening situation when finally the car stopped and we did not hear anything except one word: Descend
With cudgels in their hands
"short while... Imagines the scene" really, it was dark, you couldn’t see even your fingers, in the darkness we were hearing voices and strikes from all directions.
Sit down. Your place
Don’t move; you stupid.
Don’t move; you animal.
Your place, where take it.

And we sat embracing fear, anxiety and ignorance.
After the soldiers aligned shoulder to shoulder we heard a voice speaking quietly, while we were listening, I noticed gleaming bright on his shoulder to know later that he was a senior officer.
Do you believe that I entered the army and died without knowing the military ranks?
"While" His voice began to rumble and threaten "imitates his voice"
Listen, my kids, you are new soldiers, so you have to be careful, because one mistake costs you, your life.

Silence and changed his voice to become more warning and harsh.
The enemy is on your right
The river is on your left

- Brigade executions behind you and you know their mission, if you retreat, you will be executed without trial.
Behind me, in front of you the minefield, so you have no choice, only to carry out the task, you open a gap in enemy front to attack.
I mean the trained army.


Neither my friends nor I dared to ask any questions.
We did not train about anything and we did not know how to use the arms, but he said quickly:
Very shortly you will receive the rifles and in the dawn you’ll move towards the target, I want to watch the gap before sunrise!
As he completed his orders, they gave us guns that we saw on TV.
After a short time we ran like mad men towards the direction planned for us.
Bullets were fired into the air by some of the soldiers who had tried or used weapons in fishing, but I didn’t fire a single bullet and in the jostle I tripped down and my glasses fell down so that I couldn’t see anything, that’s why I returned back without being informed.
After less than five minutes our bodies were spread like the sand.
Since I knew that the voices of bullets and explosions and screaming soldiers filled the atmosphere, I felt that the sky could weep on our call for help.
All of which had remained in my memory was a bullet in my right leg, when I fell on the ground and turned backwards.
I saw our soldiers accompanied by an officer, and I imagined them like the ghosts. The officer shouted to me:
- Stand up you the languid, you are a coward
- Sir ............

He heard nothing.
- Don’t say any word you are sentenced to death; he said
- …My glasses, Sir
- “IT’S OVER”
He ordered
They thought that I escaped from the battle or droopy as they used to describe us, therefore they emptied their guns in our bodies.
I died in the first day of military service and the first uniform and boot, also the first silent rifle.
Is there any strange thing in my story to deserve attention?
I am here with you, thousands of poor and unarmed soldiers were with me, but no one talked about them, those whose limbs had been lost. In spite of that our author did not know anything about them.
I think what affected the author wasn’t my story, but the story of my mother which related to my death.
I do not know why he didn’t write about her instead of me.
But I would be out of the text and tell you her tale shortly, for fear not to be surprised by a sudden visit of someone. "Just"
The story of my mother as she told me sirs that she was sitting near my tomb every day, crying and mourning her kid whom she lost, she was poor, but very great, she didn’t drink or eat, but she was only smoking cigarettes which she bought before attending to the cemetery
"Saddened" In the evening of the fortieth day, she died near my tomb when she became unable to show her cry of protest.
"Whisperingly" the author had to take my mother’s character because it’s worth dealing with because her death was peerless.
"the actor jumps to another square" certainly you know who I am, I tried to stop him talking more about his mother, so as not to be confused and the characters could be overlapped, do not forget what I said.
For you our play is lyrical and empirical so that we try our disposal.
"The actor jumps to the square of embodiment"
Third character:
I can say that I am a friend of the author; we know each other very well. He didn’t believe me when I once told him:
- We talked about you kindly in the jail when we were condemned to death.
He didn’t believe first that a group of prisoners with political and religious charges who are- hopeless- talking about a famous theatrical actor presented in the daily papers, who has the right to wonder about the time and mood of the people that are closed to death every minute and to find the time to talk about others.
The truth is that when they tell you about the day of your death, everything around you becomes nonsense and of no value and you regret about many of the acts done at earlier stages because they have lost their relevance, honesty and presence in the false life.
But I swear that another friend, I was talking about the author of this play, and the rope of execution being tied around our necks more and more.
Perhaps you wonder why I was sentenced to death, I hope that I know the answer to tell you, but I know nothing except the trial conducted with more than twenty prisoners when we were in the same cage and I was hearing only the insults of my advocate towards me who asked the judge to execute me hastily when he was shouting:
- I call for the execution of this idiotic the son of.........
He insulted my mother and sister, using the dirtiest words to describe me, and within this noise I heard the judgment against all the prisoners in the cage, it was hanging for all, I may lie to you if I tell you that I did not frighten or shudder, and may not happen like this because I did not leave myself with so poor who was hidden inside himself, sentenced to death, which knows no justification for the existence of life that’s named farce, that Poor guy whom I was mourning for, and his own state.
"Moment" every day expires we feel that the grip of life slackens, leaving her kids rolling on the slopes of death.
On an unprecedented day in the year and before sunrise, the chief warders entered suddenly, he was so harsh and ugly, we were about to swallow our tongues thinking that the death would come, but he said:
- Get up my sons……
"Gets silent and moves his hands which means offensive words,"
then continues
- You are fortunate, a decision has been issued to pardon you from execution penalty and you will go to the army to serve the nation.

Then I felt that my head became like the ground for trains without knowing the next train or the rushing one, all that was going on in my head was the noise of the station and rail junction and confused travelers
"Moment" I felt joyful and sad at the same time without knowing the reason, feeling the mixture between images and meanings and the relation between life and death disappeared.
As we were out of the vault death, we saw the light of the day as if we had not seen it for decades. I imagined things like that, and then all the trains stopped.
For the first time since a long time ago, a repressed smile shown on my face ”moment”, we stood shoulder to shoulder when the ugly warden said:
- you are granted mercy from the President.
- And the other mercy which you are granted is one week to spend among your families.

In the second mercy the smile was more sincere and broadened then the warden completed his instructions.
- After the end of the week you have to join your military units.
- "As he was pointing to the military bags on the ground"

In these bags you find all your supplies.
Most of us have never been in the military service before and they did not know what he meant by military units; for example I am still a university student and I haven’t graduated yet, but he went on to complete his instructions.
- If anyone doesn’t enroll after a week, the death sentence will be implemented by the front of his house.
- "Then he shouted loudly"
Did you understand?

With one voice and without thinking, we replied
- We understood, sir!
Sooner we received our military bags with brown envelops containing our administrative orders to be handed to our military units, then they ordered us to get into the military bus quickly, meanwhile a man was standing on the door and he began to tell us a long speech.
- We will take you to the bus station and from there to your homes.
He kept silent for a short time, then he stressed on his words when he said loudly:
- If anyone of you said where he was, what happened, I’ll cut his tongue into pieces and put it in his hand.
When we reached the bus station, I felt that my heart wants to escape from me preceding me walking on the ground.
I didn’t believe that I was leaving the hell to feel the life again, the taxi drivers and vendors on the pavement, women and children and men, young and beautiful girls and university students, it is life, at that time I laughed deeply, feeling afraid because much joy may also become a risk.
Meanwhile I felt in my entity, thinking about my mother and father whom I loved very much and my sister with diseased heart, how they would face my coming when they lost any hope to return home again.
"Moment" what I expected had happened to my family that my mother suddenly fainted when she saw me, her hand was thus broken and my sister was carried to the hospital after feeling dyspnea.
I told you that the joy and grief cause danger, but the events proceeded normally and they asked me the most difficult question:
- What happened to you, tell us of your experience.
But I told them my story briefly like the sheikh when he narrated the story of Joseph:
- Born, lost and finally his family found him.
I also told them:
- I was sentenced to death and the decision was canceled, this is my story which I know. “My mother said”
- It is thanks to my prayers to God day and night.
- I was sure that I could see you before my death.
My sister said:
- It is because of the vows I did.
”My father said”
"Moment" they were all so happy except the author.
Yes, the author of this play who visited me in the following day after I left the arena of death.
For this point I told you that we knew each other, and when I told him my story. He neither pleased nor smiled, but he was so sad when he said:
- There is an obscure thing in this story, it will be obvious soon.
In fact he frightened very much because I like him and I respect his point of view, I said to him:
- Please explain to me what you meant, you frightened me, oh my friend!
- They don’t use to be merciful.
Perhaps...
He interrupted me:
- There is no evidence to be merciful, they are hard-hearted
He went on trying to calm me:
- I wish to be wrong and fortunate for being saved of hanging.
- Here I am in front of you still alive and we have to believe what had happened, it’s the truth.
I hope to be optimistic like you

"Short period of silence"

He was right, as if he knew they preceded us by sending their orders to our military units and how to deal with us.
They ordered them to exchange the donkeys used to explode the mines with the new prisoners who are granted new freedom.
When I delivered the edict to my military unit, they ordered me to go to the front to face the enemy.
On a dark night I traversed the distance alone among those who were frightened from death or to face it, and during this exhausted period, I was striving to pull my steps, and carry my military trunk on my back to remember at once my friend, who was pessimistic about my temporary freedom.

But even in these moments I did not imagine or know anything about the wiliness of political and military leaders and how to think about supplying fuel for the battle, but I felt feared and mistrusted of the idea of confronting the enemy since the first day of my arrival, I convinced myself that I was fighting for the sake of my homeland, much better than death in forgotten mazes.

When I arrived, I handed the administrative order to the officer of the troop, he glanced at me for so long as if he wanted to say: you come by yourself, oh you the Ram, then he ordered:
- Have a rest and after two hours you will have a duty.
- Yes sir.


I did not know that the duty was to slaughter the ewe.
The couple of hours were over and the duty was to climb to the top of the hill which separates us from the enemy and to know their number and their equipment as they told me.
But the ram did not suspect anything so far that the minefields were waiting for him.
When I went beyond the edge of the hill a wire detoured around my foot, I felt at once that the rope of hanging was more merciful. Within parts of a second all the faces I had known passed in front of me: families, friends and loved ones, and I swear to you that our author presented at those events because he didn’t believe them and he knew that he was speaking with a sacrifice. The mine went off to make my head went to the top of the hill to trundle to the other side to be into the arms of the enemy, and the remains of my body scattered on mined hill.

This is my story, gentlemen, and my body in my homeland which mastered in my death when the enemy fired the shot towards my head without knowing the story of the head of the poor ewe.
"Moment… sadly..."
I stayed in the open space until I disintegrated. No one dared to bury the body or gathered its pieces and my poor head rejected to be buried by the enemy. It became the food for predacious birds. I forgot to tell you I live in the city that isn’t found on the geographic area, surrounded by the mud of all directions with no means of communication or transport. Yet it wasn’t far from the killers of the modern age.
"The actor jumps to another square, painfully"
I Liked the word of ram and ewe as victims, which began thousands of years ago and in different ways.
But I did not hear any story like the one of our author’s friend.
"..A short period of silence, he sits in the front of the stage and changes the way of speaking in acting"
Our tale is not over yet, it is too often, the number of the thousands of victims, led by resolutions of rulers and leaders thirsty for blood.
It is a good opportunity for me to act another number of those poor people, but I think that’s enough to give you the opportunity to recall your friends and relatives, and all you know closer or further.
You can perform the salutation the way in which you find it’s sufficient for the people who left the life without sensation or noise, but only crying parents, the children who became orphans.
We leave the other grievous facts for the tomorrow’s evening soiree which we could choose a number of other victims of a harsh life. DATELESS DEAD MEN..


END
 
  Kasim Matrood (England) (Translated by Jawad Wadi) (20/07/2008)
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