After nearly a decade of waiting, the Herat Municipality has begun construction on the province's theater hall.

Herat municipality officials said that this theater hall is expected to be built according to standards in the center of Herat city over the next five months.

Nematullah Hasan, the mayor of Herat, said: "Regarding the theater hall, in coordination with the Department of Information and Culture and the province, we have allocated 14 million afghani from the reserve budget for its construction, and work is currently underway. This building will be constructed in five floors, two of which will be handed over to the Department of Information and Culture for cultural activities."

According to the officials, the other three floors of this building will be dedicated to a commercial market.

Herat theater artists have expressed their happiness and said that with the construction of this hall, the art of theater in this province will once again grow.

"The day they demolished the theater hall, we cried tears of sorrow. Today, as the hall is being built, we shed tears of joy. When artists have a home, all artists come together, and we are very happy," said Ghulam Sakhi Ghulami, a theater and cinema artist.

"I am very happy that the theater hall is being built. Indeed, the Islamic Emirate has made great efforts in this regard and has supported the artists," said Qorban Mohammadi, another theater and cinema artist.

According to some Herat theater artists, in the last three years, most of the artists, especially women, have left the country. They urge the interim government to support the arts and create opportunities for the return of artists to the country.

Abdul Karim Mohammadyar, the theater manager of the Herat Department of Information and Culture, said: "Opportunities should be provided to motivate the artists who have gone abroad to return to the country. One artist sold his house here and invested the money he had in Iran to work, but working in Iran is very difficult. When there is art in the country, we should provide the conditions for artists to come back to the country."

The art of theater in Herat has a history of more than a hundred years. The only theater hall was demolished by the municipality about a decade ago to expand the central road of Herat city.

With the demolition of the theater hall, the opportunity for live theater performances was somewhat taken away from the artists, and their artistic performances were limited to small gatherings and meetings.