Hazara

I dont think I mentioned that Simorgh Theater Co is Hazara, the beleagured minority of Afghanistan, the ' blacks'. They live in the Hazara ghetto outside of Herat. The only option for trained actors in Afghanistan is TV but there are no Hazaras on TV. One of Simorgh's major complaints is that they spend a few years training good actors who must eventually give it up. There is a plan to teach the company to become self sufficient by performing short plays about social issues out in the community -to Pashtuns and Tajiks at the local women's shelter?

In Kabul, the Hazaras are the beasts of burden on the street, the men you see pulling carts loaded with construction materials, etc They were also among the best and most serious students at American U., the least likely to act entitled. Bamyian is their province and during the time of Taliban rule, they were those most victimized and massacred. Susana told me that when she and her family were fleeing to Iran, their car would repeatedly be stopped and searched for Hazara who would have been summarily murdered if found.