The brilliance of Afghanistan’s girls on the French stage
In the summer of 2021, Afghanistan plunged into chaos as the Taliban seized control. Artists, journalists, writers, and human rights activists fled for their lives. I, along with the girls the theatre group, escaped the country aboard a military aircraft in the dead of night.
In Paris, we were temporarily housed in a hotel for two weeks. We were exhausted — by war, displacement, the loss of our homeland, and by the uncertainty of what lay ahead. Then, after the quarantine period required during the pandemic, our group was scattered as we were sent to different cities. Eventually, the girls’ theatre group settled in the city of Lyon, France. That was the beginning of a new chapter: the birth of the Afghanistan Girls Theatre in exile.
From April 4 to April 13, 2025, this theatre group is staging a reimagining of Sophocles’ Antigone called The Messenger in Farsi at the prestigious Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, one of Paris’s most magnificent theatres. Over two weeks, they perform their one-hour-and-forty-five minute production for a French and international audience drawn to their story.
As I entered that theatre, I was greeted by the sound of cheerful music. The girls were dancing and splashing water. They were full of joy and life. Suddenly, the monster of oppression descended, stole their happiness and locked them behind the windows of their homes. The music stopped as joy turned to sorrow. Their eyes filled with fear.
They were young girls on the brink of adolescence who were forced to grow up. They were suddenly turned into women whose thoughts, voices, movements, presence, and even bodies were placed under the control of others. It was not they who decided their fate, but their rulers.
Words had changed meaning – good became bad, and bad was praised. The people of the city were caught between the commands of the rulers and the voice of their own conscience. To win the approval of those in power, they turned against one another, all the while grieving in their hearts and aware of the injustice of their actions. Even that guilt wasn’t enough to stop them from hurting one another to to gain a sliver of favour from their masters.
Antigone is reborn in the language of exile
A fresh and powerful wind begins to blow from the very first rehearsals of Antigone. On stage, the young women appeared like warriors emerging from the heart of resistance. Their performance is raw and honest, as if the pain and experiences they carry are erupting from within. The theatre falls into stunned silence. Drawn into the story through the actors’ movements, words, and gazes, the audience bursts into laughter or is moved to tears during the play.
Under the imaginative direction of Jean Bellorini, the ancient tragedy has been transformed into a contemporary manifesto. The stage is covered with water beneath a massive moon suspended in the sky. The lighting and sound design is masterful.
The actresses play all the roles in this version of Antigone. The Messenger is delivered in Farsi, with French subtitles, and every word, every gesture, carries both political and human weight as the line between myth and reality dissolves. Their performance oscillates between the joy of acting and the sorrow of exile, between vivid embodiment and subtle allusion. Antigone — the girl who says, “No” — becomes a mirror of these Afghanistan’s young women’s fate.
Opposite her, Creon the tyrant becomes a symbol of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada and every misogynistic, authoritarian ruler who craves domination and control.
‘The Messengers’: The unsilenced voice of women
“The Messengers” is more than a theatre performance. These young women — Hassania Ahmadi, Freshta Akbari, Atefa Azizpour, Sadiya Hosseini, Shakila Ebrahimi, Shogofa Ebrahimi, Marzia Jafari, Tahera Jafari, and Sohaila Sakhizadah — are the voices of a generation that refuses to let Afghanistan be forgotten. Their presence, their voices, their hope are reminders of the resilience, dreams, and struggle of the girls of Afghanistan.
As I watch, I can’t help but think, “If only these scenes were unfolding not in exile, but in our homeland.” These women are treasures of that land who could have contributed to Afghanistan’s cultural growth. But even before exile, they were never allowed to be the voices of love or beauty in their own country. There was no space for their art, light, or freedom in a society where anything that rises from a woman is deemed dishonorable and an offense to tradition and dignity.
A powerful performance born of collective creation
The success of The Messengers is the result of a close collaboration between Jean Bellorini, Hélène Patarot, Mina Rahnamayi, and Naïm Karimi. Every element — lighting, sound, costume, and set design — works in harmony to offer a profound message. The production was made possible with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and in partnership with the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
The strength of The Messengers lies in its universality and radical humanism. In this reimagining of Antigone, we are confronted with urgent, timeless questions:
What is our responsibility?
How long can we remain silent?
And how can art revive the silenced voices of the world?
How many Antigones in Afghanistan have had to bury their hopes in silence?
At the end of the performance, the audience rose in a standing ovation. The applause and the emotional reactions from that passionate, art-loving crowd stood as a testament to the success of this powerful collective work.
Mursal Says is journalist and founder of Women Beyond Borders organization.
