TEHRAN – An Iranian Kurdish troupe has performed a play in Zrebar Lake in Marivan, depicting the sufferings of the migrants drowning in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe in the hope of a better life.

“Suffering of the Water” was performed on Saturday during the 15th Marivan International Theater Festival, which is currently underway in Marivan, a town located in Kordestan Province, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Sunday.

A large number of people flocked to the beach on a gorgeous sunny day to see a different kind of performance, which was being staged for the first time at the festival or maybe in Iran.

Farzad Hassanmirzai, the director play, said that his troupe realized the potential of Zrebar Lake, also known as Zarivar Lake, to dramatically illustrate the issue of migrants from West Asia who have lost their lives in the Mediterranean in the hope of finding a better life in Europe.

Due to the limitations facing this kind of play, Hassanmirzai said that only one performance was arranged by the organizers of the festival, which will be running until Monday.

His cast of 15 actors had only one previous rehearsal at Baneh Dam, located near Baneh, the town where the troupe hails from. The actors have to swim in the lake for half an hour to allow their bodies to adapt to the water temperature.  

“Our works are mostly performed on stage, but our desire to stage a different type of performance attracted us to the festival,” Hassanmirzai said.

He praised the people of Marivan for their enthusiasm for street theater and said, “People of Marivan have a better understanding of theater.”

Every year, hundreds of migrants fleeing from wars and political pressures in West Asia are drowned in failed attempts to sail to Europe.

The most heartrending one is the story of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose remains were found lying face-down in the surf on a beach near the Turkish resort town of Bodrum in 2015.

Aylan’s family, including his 5-year-old brother who died on the same boat, was from the north Syrian town of Kobani, which was the scene of heavy fighting between ISIS extremists and Kurdish regional forces at that time.

Photo: A troupe from Baneh performs the play “Suffering of the Water” on migrants drowning in the Mediterranean in Zrebar Lake in Marivan on October 30, 2021. (IRNA) 

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