'An Unforgettable Night' to Take the Stage in Sulaimani After Acclaimed festival Run
The play An Unforgettable Night, directed by Khalat Nawzad, will be staged in Sulaimani starting Jan. 21, 2026, after performances in Halabja and selection for Kurdish and international theater festivals.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - After drawing wide attention on Kurdish and international stages, the theatrical production An Unforgettable Night is set to reach audiences in Sulaimani, bringing with it a deeply reflective narrative shaped by memory, justice, and the long shadows of violence.
The play An Unforgettable Night, produced by theater artists from Halabja and directed by Khalat Nawzad, is scheduled to begin performances in the city of Sulaimani after a successful run elsewhere. The production was previously staged for twenty days in Halabja and also participated in the twentieth Saqqez Kurdish Theater Festival.
On Wednesday, director Khalat Nawzad told Kurdistan24 that following the play’s selection by the festival jury in Saqqez to participate in the International Fajr Theater Festival in Tehran, and its extended performances in the city of Halabja, the decision was made to bring the production to Sulaimani in response to strong public demand.
Nawzad explained that the events portrayed in the play are connected to a chain of historical experiences spanning several past decades. Viewed through a specific lens, the narrative unfolds through the eyes of a revolutionary woman, tracing her confrontation with justice, revenge, silence, and memory.
He added that the play explores the life and legacy of a revolutionary woman who bravely faces repression. It delves into pivotal moments of life and death within dark prison spaces, portraying sustained physical and psychological abuse, including violations of bodily dignity. According to the director, the violence persists beyond her release, as she remains haunted by the pursuit of truth and accountability for the crimes committed against her.
Expanding on the work’s themes, Nawzad said An Unforgettable Night serves as a meditation on what follows dictatorship, focusing on long-lasting violence that embeds itself in collective memory and raises unresolved questions about how a wounded society can rebuild justice—not as revenge, but as a moral rebirth of humanity itself.
An Unforgettable Night is written by Ariel Dorfman, translated by Farouq Homer, and directed by Khalat Nawzad. The production represents a collaboration rooted in Kurdish theatrical expression while engaging with universal questions of justice, memory, and human dignity.
Scheduled to open on Jan. 21, 2026, in Sulaimani, the play will run for ten days, offering audiences an opportunity to engage with a powerful theatrical work that bridges personal memory and collective reckoning through the language of the stage.