For most people, the theatre is for entertainment. For Saleh Sepas and his fellow Afghan refugees, it is a form of therapy to help them cope with their present situation.

Before 2016, Sepas was working in Afghanistan as a writer and director for international media agencies like BBC Radio. Fearing for his family’s safety, Sepas, together with his wife and three children, sought refuge in Malaysia. Just like other refugees, the family had a hard time adjusting to the situation. But at some point, Sepas realised that he needed to do something, not just for himself and his family, but for all other Afghan refugees struggling in Malaysia.

He founded Parastoo Theatre in 2017, saying in a UNHCR article that “he wanted to show that refugees are not useless. They have skills, and they could help build societies if they had the opportunity.”

It also was a platform for voicing out the refugees's issues and concerns, as revealed in Sepas’ most recent work. Co-written with Malaysian theatre great Jo Kukathas, the new play, titled And Then Came Spring, is about women’s rights and child marriages.

Sepas, who earned a degree in Fine Arts at a Kabul university, is currently working on a new project—an arts centre for refugees in one of Kuala Lumpur’s malls.