Theatre

A Meditation on the Fractured Self: Wajdi Mouawad’s Autobiographical ‘Mother’ Revives Memories of Relationships Fragmented by War

Retrospective Look at Mouawad’s ‘Most Lebanese’ Play in Wake of Recent Boycott Campaign in Lebanon

By Naomi Pham

From his award-winning play “Littoral” and its continuation, “Incendies,” Wajdi Mouawad frequently delivers compelling narratives surrounding family — whether it be a bereaved son navigating the complications of burying his father in his native, war-torn Lebanon like in “Littoral,” or in “Incendies,” where two siblings based in Montreal return at the request of their dead mother to their birthplace in the Middle East in search of a father and brother they’ve never met. Like a connective tissue between many of his creative works, it comes as little surprise that family also takes a focal point in his autobiographical theater series, in which war-consumed Lebanon is as much the setting as the Parisian apartment 10-year-old Mouawad’s family lived in for five years while waiting for the war’s end. “Mother,” which the director presented in 2021, echoes a diaspora that Antoine Gouki of Independent Arabia considers “Promethean torture,” and critic Alma Abu Samra in Al Akhbar writes very likely felt no different from the basement shelters with which Lebanese families living through the civil war were all-too-familiar.

Theatre

Two Decades After Alfred Farag’s Death, Debate Still Rages Over Origins and Decline of Arab Theater

By Naomi Pham and Elie Chalala

Almost any discussion of Arab playwrights is incomplete without covering the origins of Arab theater, and no exception applies when discussing Alfred Farag. Arab scholars, playwrights, and critics have constantly debated the state of Arab theater, once its birth and recently its decline, especially when compared (as it often is) to Western theater. The late Alfred Farag (1929-2005), one of the leading contemporary playwrights of Egyptian theater, wrote numerous plays and played an instrumental role in bridging Arab heritage to the stage before his death. His bold, experimental style vastly influenced Arab theater as it is known today, and he devoted much of his life to calling for a theatrical renaissance.

Theatre

Play Reveals Wounds of Palestinian Occupation

Bobby Gulshan

Translating Syria’s Foremost Playwright to the New York Stage

Rula Jurdi

The recent staged readings in New York of Sadallah Wannous’s translated play, “Rituals of Signs and Transformations” have proven highly successful. The play features memorable characters, such as Mumina, a 19th century woman from Damascus who defies the expectations of her father, brother, husband and Mufti in order to explore her sexuality and spirituality. Her forbidden sensuality and journey of spiritual self-discovery not only transforms Mumina, but also proves a powerful catalyst for change in those who share her life.

“Under the Ramadan Moon” A Performance by Elmaz Abinader

Kim Jensen

From the Stage: The Rape

Sa'dallah Wannous

Sa'adallah Wannous: His Last Five Years His Greatest as Playwright

Ali Alsouleman

Ali al-Rai Exits Stage: Egypt Loses Critic Who Brought Masterpieces to Theater

Elie Chalala

Ali al-Rai, a major intellectual and champion of theater, died in Egypt on January 18, 1999 at the age of 78. An avid supporter of young and new talent and an independent-minded critic and nationalist, he was a modest person who shunned the spotlight and was not given to exaggeration. Al-Rai leaves behind a rich legacy, mainly in Egyptian theater.

Sa'dallah Wannous Calls For Restoration of Theater, the "Ideal Forum" for Human Dialogue

Al Jadid Staff

Sa'dallah Wannous: A Life in Theater

Manal Swairjo

You are here