Shirin: The Legend of the Forty Girls
The Legend of the Forty Girls is inspired by the true story of Hazara girls who stood against the armed forces of Abdul Rahman during the massacre and persecution of the Hazaras in Afghanistan. Surrounded by violence and refusing to surrender, these young women chose death over slavery — throwing themselves from the mountains into the valley below rather than losing their freedom and dignity. This performance is presented as shadow puppet theatre, with no dialogue. The storyteller is a Dambura player whose instrument shares the same fate as these girls: the Dambura, one of the traditional instruments of the Hazaras, was condemned for years by rulers and religious extremists, and many of its musicians were persecuted and killed in an attempt to erase Hazara culture and art. Through shadow, music, and silence, this performance becomes a tribute to resistance, memory, and the voices history tried to silence.