THE title of the show at Basra’s main theatre does not have the pith of, say, Sunset Boulevard. But, despite a real clunker of a name, The Night of the Death of the Representative of Humanitarian Justice (The Killing of Imam Ali) has a big advantage: it is the only show in town.

As a rule, plays in Basra are not intended to entertain but to ram home a religious or political message and in recent months the city has slipped under the sway of Shia Islamist parties and their militias.

In hotel lobbies and behind closed doors, people whisper nervously about the growing influence of Iran, just across the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The no-singing, no-dancing spectacular, which is currently in rehearsal, was written by a sheikh loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shia cleric, and deals with the martyrdom of the founder of Shia Islam.

Directors avoid using actresses for fear that they will offend the hardliners who now dominate a city that was once known for its casinos and nightclubs.

To avoid blasphemy they cannot even represent Imam Ali himself, which leads to some curious symbolism involving boys who play talking swans and some booming voice-overs.

There is an uneasy calm in this once-rich port city. There is no sign of the bloody Sunni insurgency that is taking place in the north — here the violence is suppressed, an undercurrent that keeps people edgy even as they smoke water pipes and sip tea at waterfront cafés or on streets thick with festering rubbish and sewage.

While those who stick to the rules can stage religious plays, any deviation can lead to deadly trouble, as a dance teacher, Thawra Youssif Yaqoub, discovered.

Some of her female relatives, who were in a musical troupe, played at a birthday party in June. After the party they were dropped off on a main street with their instruments. A Toyota pulled up and a gunman shot her cousin’s wife in the head, killing her instantly. As the troupe fled screaming, the gunman shot her niece in the arm, then chased the group and shot her sister-in-law in the belly. She died later in hospital.

“It is difficult to reveal the identity of those who were in that vehicle because there will be serious consequences,” said Ms Yaqoub. “There were policemen with them.”

Basra’s lack of car bombs and relative calm have been touted as a victory for the British Army’s softly-softly approach. But fear is often palpable.

Asked about the Islamic gangs who force women to wear headscarves and prevent the sale of alcohol and music, a member of the writers’ union immediately started trembling. “I’m sorry, I can’t talk about that. This is a dangerous thing,” he said. “I have three kids and I love life. The Islamic movement is very hard. Al- Qaeda is not a problem here. The Iranian revolution is the problem.” The various Islamic parties, most of whom spent years of exile from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in neighbouring Iran, deny any link to the violence and blame al-Qaeda.

But officials say that the parties are closely linked to Iran, receiving funding and reciprocating with intelligence.

Samir Jassim Khadair, a spokesman for the Southern Oil Company in Basra, was blunt.

“Iran is running Iraq, frankly speaking,” he said.

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