The Afghan people have witnessed the decades of continuing bloodshed on their land. ... In an old cemetery, a dead sampling that will never grow into a mature tree is an allegory of a girl, who has been killed and is being mourned and wailed for by her heartbroken father. A grandfather brings a bloodstained dress and books left unread on his beloved granddaughter’s grave. A grief-stricken mother looks totally lost.

The heart-wrenching production ‘The Secret of Silence’ portrays the family’s irretrievable loss to show fragility of peace and vulnerability of people who are drawn into the military-political conflict.

“What is the secret of silence?!” the Herat Theater company asks us. – When will the horrors of war end? When will people live in the world without bullets whizzing past - an omen of death and tragic losses of their nearest and dearest?!”

... The production featured a musician playing mournful melodies and we recognized the man as Afghan artist Ibragim Erevi, whom we had met during the exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts.

People all over the world need peace! And participants in the Ashgabat Theater Festival entirely agree with the actors of the Herat Theater, who used the language of art to call on everyone from the stage of the Magtymguly Turkmen National Drama Theater to preserve peace, join hands and build a happy future.

What is the secret of silence and living in peace? It is mutual understanding and openness; friendliness and sincerity; an ability to listen and hear; tolerance and humanism. This symbolic message that was the centerpiece of the dramatic and at the same time life-affirming production touched responsive chords in the hearts of the spectators - representatives of different nations. Art has the power to bring people closer together.