Baghdad actors, athletes come out to play
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The al Rasheed Theater hosted an improvisational performance Sunday.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqis turned their attention to sports and entertainment Sunday, leisure activities that had all but disappeared during the war and its immediate aftermath.
The theater group al Najeen (The Survivors) played before a packed house in the bombed and burned al Rasheed Theater in Baghdad, performing an improvisational piece called "They Passed by Here" that touched on issues of tyranny, love, forgiveness and peace.
An appreciative audience -- which not only saw and heard the actors' interpretations of recent events, but could still smell the smoke from bombs that had struck the theater -- frequently stood and cheered the actors in the capital's first such performance since before the start of the war.
The actors said they were staying in the theater, which was severely damaged in the bombing, to prevent further looting.
On the sports front, the soccer team al Zaura held its first practice since the start of the war, playing with equipment they brought from home because the stadium, where the team's official equipment was stored, had been looted.
Players on the team, one of Iraq's best with several members of the Iraqi National Team, said they hoped to play a match against Baghdad's police team early this week.
Officials with the Iraqi National Team said they hoped to begin training soon for the Olympic qualification games to be held next month in Damascus, Syria.
About 200 athletes and other sports officials planned a demonstration Monday in Baghdad to drum up support for a Iraqi sports federation to replace the one headed by Saddam Hussein's son, Uday.
Uday is said to have tortured and killed athletes who failed to win or performed worse than expected.
