MARJAN the last lion of Afghanistan - Méliscènes

As part of the Méliscènes festival

Puppet theater
From 7 years - 1h


In 2021, evacuated with other Afghans, Abdul Haq and Farhad find themselves at Roissy airport. They meet the old keeper of the Kabul zoo, who confides in them and laments the return of the Taliban. He tells the story of Marjan, the last lion of Afghanistan.

Donated by Germany in 1978, this lion witnessed the successive upheavals of his country. Today, he is a symbol of the courage of the Afghan people. The airport gives way to the Kabul zoo, and the animals take the floor. They describe the country from the time of the Soviet occupation and the civil war to the reign of the Taliban.

In this true story told by two actor-puppeteers, French and Dari (the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan) intermingle. The raw-looking puppets give way to fantasy and the world of storytelling. Through Marjan, a story of Afghanistan takes shape, and with it, the relentless violence on this land, the complexity of the country but also the beauty of the souls that inhabit it.

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Created by Guilda Chahverdi, the company HdH - Hasards d'Hasards works in the fields of theater creation and training. It has also organized meetings, performances and cultural events in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Since 2021, the company has been committed to supporting projects highlighting contemporary creation and accompanying Afghan and Iranian artists.

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