Two weeks ago, two of the actors in their theater group, Fuad Radi, 20, and Haidar Jawad, 25, were ruthlessly gunned down by unknown assailants in the ongoing plague of shootings and bombings in Baghdad.
Despite the tragedy, the young dancers, aged nine to 12 from the Happy Family children's theater group, were determined to press ahead with their play.
The performances of The Clown and Me began during daylight hours due to the 8:00 pm curfew imposed on Baghdad in a bid to stem the relentless bloodshed.
The 11-day variety show that ended on Tuesday adopted the slogan "The Child Is As Sacred As The Country" in tribute to the spirit of its young actors and dancers who dared to perform despite Iraq's daily bloodshed.
"We are trying to give children a moment to dream and to take them out of the climate of fear that reigns over the city," said Awatef Naim, who penned the play.
The main themes of the play were about dreaming and the power of the imagination. Nowhere in the performance did viewers see any hint of violence.
We are "delighted to see playwrights and those in Iraqi theater take an interest in children despite the difficult conditions", said outgoing culture minister Nuri Rawi at the show's opening.
He nonetheless apologized for the delay in providing public grants to the arts, citing a government that was too absorbed in fighting violence and restoring basic services like electricity and water, still sporadic three years after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
"There was large-scale participation from the families and schools to attend the festival and we hope that circumstances become more stable so we continue such cultural activities," said Fatin Al Jarah, head of the cultural center in Baghdad that organized the event.
Hundreds of families, men, women and children enjoyed the nearly two-week children's theater extravaganza, braving the continuous assaults of sectarian violence that has wracked Baghdad over the past few weeks.
"We were delighted to attend the festival with our children despite this violence," said Mahmoud Hussein, 45.
Hussein said that such plays and cultural activities must become regular occurrences in Iraq to create a better environment for children in the violence-wracked country.
"I think Iraqis are looking forward to see more such activities and we need children to learn about our culture, especially children's culture, which is so important to the family," Hussein said. "Such activities have been absent from our lives for a long time now."
Despite a long historical tradition, theater has rarely surfaced in Iraq since the US-led invasion, with the environment just not safe enough. But the artists are hopeful of better days ahead.
"Today we are able to get our minds away from the pressures that affect our creativity," said actress Shahira Awad. "Artistic creativity in Iraq during the former regime was present but subjected to political tendencies, diverting it away from the true aim. I hope we now get some support from the government to promote it further."
Under Saddam, the content of plays was strictly monitored and official censorship was frequent, but this did not make a dent in the abundance of theatrical activity, from propagandist showings to common people's entertainment of a genre comparable to street theatre.
Meanwhile, the motives behind the young actors' slayings remains unknown. No one can say for sure if it was political or sectarian, or aimed at sending a message aimed at silencing the theater group.
But festival director Nabil Tahar says that he will never give up promoting children's theater.
"The death of our colleagues is one of numerous difficulties affecting those involved in Iraqi theater today. They even sometimes risk their lives, as we have seen," Tahar said.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse