XOFRAN EL-RADÎ

Baghdad - Baida Al-Mu'tasım is one of the famous theatre players in Iraqi theatre. We spoke to our news agency about Iraqi theater and her works.

Baida Al-Mu'tasım is a young actress in her 20s. She has been in love with the theater as far as she remembers. She is interested in cinema, acts in TV commercials and TV series about women to make women's voices heard.

Baida Al-Mu'tasım told us that people who choose acting as a career grew up without having an active life;

“I didn't have an active childhood. I was known as a calm child. I was an unsocial person during my childhood and early youth. But I became an active and social person when I studied art at university. I try to be a calm person despite my active living conditions.

“I choose my roles carefully”

Underlining that she hasn’t been well known in the world, Baida Al-Mu'tasım said that actually there are many Arab female actors of Iraq, particularly in the field of theater, and they have produced very good works.

“I closely follow Sewsem Bedir; I know all of her roles, details about her by heart. If you are going to act in a feminist theater, about women’s rights, you should know and follow Nadine Najim, Dina Al Shirbini and Emniye Khalil. I try to follow in the footsteps of theater actors who have strong stances and who are good at acting,” Baida Al-Mu'tasım said.

As a female actress, she thinks education is an important factor for every woman to take part in every sphere of life. She has recently acted in a TV series named “Tayba” as an evil woman.

“Sometimes, I face bad reactions from people in the streets and their reactions actually make me happy. Because their reactions show me that I am acting my character very well. Nur is a jealous, angry woman who always easily makes enemies. Her character is totally different from my character but I worked very hard to get into her character.”

Baida Al-Mu'tasım has also acted in many other TV series in Iraq but she told us that these series are “temporary” for her.

“I would like to take part in every project about women’s issues and human rights”

Baida Al-Mu’tasım wants to take part in every project about women’s issues and human rights in feminist theatre and cinema. She has received “a lot of criticism” in her country for her young age and acting performance but she is happy for receiving criticism;

“Our society likes criticizing. Receiving positive and negative criticism makes me happy. I think the biggest barrier to self-advancement is being stuck in stereotypes. I can overcome these stereotypes and improve my acting performance by taking into account the criticisms.”

Baida Al-Mu’tasım wants to put her signature to long-term works for Iraqi and specifically for Arab theater and to do this from a feminist perspective.