©Jan Michelsen

About the Play
As The Stars Fall is an exploration of survival, resistance, and the untold stories of women in Afghanistan.
In August 2021, when the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan plunged into an even darker abyss. The entire country became an oppressive prison for countless girls and women who had fought quietly and persistently for years to make even the smallest changes within their homes—homes that were already prisons—and in their communities, which acted as their wardens.

The Taliban’s return was an ambush, and what followed was devastating. Each day, the bodies of women and young girls began appearing across the country. Every body bore the marks of violence, telling a tale of unimaginable brutality.

Through fragmented narratives, As The Stars Fall gives voice to these silenced stories. The play illuminates the resilient, quiet fight of Afghan women and challenges the dominant narratives, shining a light into the darkest corners of oppression. It is a story not only of loss but also of courage—of women carrying light through the shadowed corridors of despair.

This is a performance that invites audiences to reflect on the lived experiences of women and their enduring resistance. By reclaiming their stories, it transforms them into acts of defiance and hope.

Content Warning: This performance contains nudity and themes of violence and trauma.

Artistic Team
Playwright, Performer, Director, Stage Design, Light Design: Monirah Hashemi
Music: Mattias Pérez
Mentor: Edit Kaldor
Tutor: Sophia New
Dramaturgs: Sally O'Neill, Keyvan Sarreshteh
Photo: Jan Michelsen
Institution: Malmö Theatre Academy - Master Program in Performing Arts as a Critical Practice

Performance Details
Duration: 60 minutes
Format: One-woman play
Language: The play is performed in Swedish in Sweden and English on international stages.

Upcoming Performances:
8th March: A Night with Buddha Festival, Harstad, Norway
June: South Asia Theater Festival, New Jersey, USA

Looking Ahead: I am excited to bring this play to more audiences and am actively planning additional tours.

Who Lights the Stars?

©Sara Svärdsén

Quote from the performance:

Memory is extraordinary. Through manipulation—as a survival strategy—it compels us to deny or normalize our own feelings, our understanding of ourselves, and the people around us. It makes us accept—to accept what happened.
But talking helps. It allows us to rediscover parts that have been suppressed. We talk, and every time we revisit those flickering, blurry bits, memory releases a little more of what has been hidden for so long. The more we talk, the braver memory becomes in bringing forth new images. It helps us understand that it’s okay—to remember—and that I will be okay in remembering.

Creative team:
Text: Monirah Hashemi
Director: Leif Persson
Actor: Monirah Hashemi
Music: Mattias Perez
Choreography: Håkan Mayer
Translation: Tina Bergenbrink
Photography: Sara Svärdsén

Sitaraha - The Stars

©FemFest 2015
©Janet Shum

©HofFestSpiele2017
©David Winnerstam

Artistic team
Script and actor: Monirah Hashemi
Director: Leif Persson
Scenography: Leif Persson & Per Thorén,
Lighting design: Per Thorén
Music: Mattias Perrez & Leif Nahnfeldt
Costume: Inger Stinnerbom
Choreography: Susanne Berggren & Monirah Hashemi
Photo: Dahyu Hashimi
Translation: Banafshe Hejazi & Tina Bergenbrink, Production: Teater DOS, Simorgh Film Association of Culture and Art & Riksteatern Värmland
Producer: Riksteatern

Sitaraha is a moving performance about the lives of three women during different time periods in Afghanistan. Halima, is to be stoned for being raped by her stepson; Gul Belgum, who lost her family in the war of 1892; and Sara, who lives through the brutal civil war of the 1980s. This interwoven testimony document and tell women's history from Afghanistan.