Nehardea Magazine

Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
No.13, Summer 2001

JEWS OF IRAQ IN RECENT GENERATIONS

THE JEWISH THEATER IN BAGHDAD
Arie Elias

<<< We decided to charge each member 50 Fils in order to buy materials, to sew the costumes, buy paint, print tickets, etc.
Did we decide? Of course we did! But how and where exactly were we going to lay our hands on 50 Fils, which was then considered a small fortune? After all, we were all pupils and our parents' financial situation was not exactly bright. The only way was to give up our weekly allowances of 20 Fils each. We all had difficulty in raising the money. We did not know what to do as just the cost of 40 meters of cheap Arab fabric, was 350 Fils. Salim mentioned that he believed his brother would be willing to supply the cloth from his store. So, the next morning, we made our way to the market. He received us nicely with an expression on his face showing that he already knew the purpose of our visit, and gave us on the spot, the required cloth.
The next thing that occupied us was to find a pupil, like us, willing to paint the decor, gratis, or extend us credit till after the play. We were secretively referred to a well- known decor painter, Abdalla Agasi. He designed and painted all the settings used by Eliahou (Elias) Smaira in his plays. Eliahou Smaira was one of the famous Jewish actors of that time. Since Agasi was unavailable, we let the matter lie and continued searching for a decor painter. One day, my door bell rang and when I opened the door, there stood no other than Abdalla Agasi in person: "Your brother Naim sent me. He said that you will be producing a play and in need of a decor painter ". The truth be told, I was very touched. It was a miracle. I invited him in and we sat discussing the play. It seemed that he was familiar with all the characters and was ready to play a small role, which he particularly liked: that of Sheikh Saleh. I was overjoyed and impatient to give my friends the wonderful news.

There remained one question: where to perform the play? One school after another turned us down, until we came to Masuda Shemtob School at the Al-Batawiyeen Quarter. This school served as a synagogue too and had a spacious backyard, which was just right for us. The school master agreed to allow us the use of the backyard, only after we signed an agreement giving 40% of the proceeds to the school funds leaving the remaining 60% for ourselves.
We proceeded with the rehearsals and Abdalla Agasi worked with all his devoted and professional vigor and painted a splendid backdrop. The results were wonderful and invited fame and recognition in the neighbourhood. The residents, who discovered that we lived in a far away quarter, took care of our meals. When the time came to print tickets, we wanted to print our actors' names on them as in the time-honored tradition. Naim Bok, nicknamed "Zero ", took care of designing and painting the tickets. It read: "In wonderful weather and a good atmosphere, the amateur group performed on the stage of Masuda Shemtob's School (the style in Arabic was more comic), the play "Al-Sahra " written by the great writer Yusuf Bey Wahbi (in bold letters). The show will take place on Thursday evening, 22-3-39 at exactly 8:30 pm. Prices: 40-120 Fils. " When I remarked to Bok "Zero " that the name of Yusuf Wahbi occupied most of the space on the tickets, he retorted: "And who has ever heard of you? Of him, they have heard.”
Rehearsals took place daily for three whole months. One of the problems, which cropped up during the preparations, was that none of us knew how to sell tickets. We had no organized workplace or a box office. Mashal, our treasurer insisted that we provide a special desk with side drawers, and a special lamp that would light the desk from above so that he could sell the tickets with his sleeves rolled back. That is how tickets were sold in those days.

[will be continued in the next issue]

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JEWS OF IRAQ IN RECENT GENERATIONS
THE JEWISH THEATER IN BAGHDAD Arie Elias
<<< We decided to charge each member 50 Fils in order to buy materials, to sew the costumes, buy paint, print tickets, etc. Did we decide? Of course we did! But how and where exactly were we going to lay our hands on 50 Fils, which was then considered a small fortune? After all, we were all pupils and our parents' financial situation was not exactly bright. The only way was to give up our weekly allowances of 20 Fils each. We all had difficulty in raising the money. We did not know what to do as just the cost of 40 meters of cheap Arab fabric, was 350 Fils. Salim mentioned that he believed his brother would be willing to supply the cloth from his store. So, the next morning, we made our way to the market. He received us nicely with an expression on his face showing that he already knew the purpose of our visit, and gave us on the spot, the required cloth. The next thing that occupied us was to find a pupil, like us, willing to paint the decor, gratis, or extend us credit till after the play. We were secretively referred to a well- known decor painter, Abdalla Agasi. He designed and painted all the settings used by Eliahou (Elias) Smaira in his plays. Eliahou Smaira was one of the famous Jewish actors of that time. Since Agasi was unavailable, we let the matter lie and continued searching for a decor painter. One day, my door bell rang and when I opened the door, there stood no other than Abdalla Agasi in person: "Your brother Naim sent me. He said that you will be producing a play and in need of a decor painter ". The truth be told, I was very touched. It was a miracle. I invited him in and we sat discussing the play. It seemed that he was familiar with all the characters and was ready to play a small role, which he particularly liked: that of Sheikh Saleh. I was overjoyed and impatient to give my friends the wonderful news. There remained one question: where to perform the play? One school after another turned us down, until we came to Masuda Shemtob School at the Al-Batawiyeen Quarter. This school served as a synagogue too and had a spacious backyard, which was just right for us. The school master agreed to allow us the use of the backyard, only after we signed an agreement giving 40% of the proceeds to the school funds leaving the remaining 60% for ourselves. We proceeded with the rehearsals and Abdalla Agasi worked with all his devoted and professional vigor and painted a splendid backdrop. The results were wonderful and invited fame and recognition in the neighbourhood. The residents, who discovered that we lived in a far away quarter, took care of our meals. When the time came to print tickets, we wanted to print our actors' names on them as in the time-honored tradition. Naim Bok, nicknamed "Zero ", took care of designing and painting the tickets. It read: "In wonderful weather and a good atmosphere, the amateur group performed on the stage of Masuda Shemtob's School (the style in Arabic was more comic), the play "Al-Sahra " written by the great writer Yusuf Bey Wahbi (in bold letters). The show will take place on Thursday evening, 22-3-39 at exactly 8:30 pm. Prices: 40-120 Fils. " When I remarked to Bok "Zero " that the name of Yusuf Wahbi occupied most of the space on the tickets, he retorted: "And who has ever heard of you? Of him, they have heard.” Rehearsals took place daily for three whole months. One of the problems, which cropped up during the preparations, was that none of us knew how to sell tickets. We had no organized workplace or a box office. Mashal, our treasurer insisted that we provide a special desk with side drawers, and a special lamp that would light the desk from above so that he could sell the tickets with his sleeves rolled back. That is how tickets were sold in those days. [will be continued in the next issue]
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