NYT/Reuters: Iraqi Woman's Blog Taken on Stage ("Riverbend"!)

[DeepModem Mom]

Iraqi Woman's Blog Taken on Stage
By REUTERS
Published: August 7, 2006

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - "Is it time to wash our hands of the country and find a stable life somewhere else?''

The question in "Girl Blog from Iraq'' was posted only last weekend by an anonymous young Iraqi woman whose weblog has now been adapted into a theatrical documentary at the Edinburgh Fringe arts festival.

Played by actresses of Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi origin, she recounts the horrors of abduction, murder and rape alongside her determined efforts to carve out a normal life amid the carnage.

"It is exciting when she posts as we know she is OK. All of a sudden you are reminded how real and immediate this all is,'' said Kimberly Kefgen who adapted the weblog with Loren Ingrid Noveck.

Known only as "Riverbend,'' the Iraqi blogger has been providing regular despatches since August 2003, writing in her first entry: "I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That is all you need to know. It's all that matters.''...

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-arts-mideast-blog.html