Sami Abdul-Hamid, one of the most significant directors of the modern Iraqi theatre, died on Sunday, 29 September 2019, at the age of 91. He was born in Samaqah, Iraq, in 1928 and studied theatre in London and the United …
Current Issue
Humanism through performative arts: A comparative study of My Papers Weren’t Done? and Zapi Rouge
In recent years, political migration has been one of the hottest topics in international politics. Its real moral complexity is often bypassed in the rush to make various nationalist assertions, while the pervasive media coverage spreads continuous quick images …
We Live in Cairo
“Write what you know,” two generations of American writing students have been schooled. On some campuses the stakes have risen further: “How dare you write what you don’t know?” Regarding the Arab world, because its people have suffered such terrible …
Laugh Till/When You Die: The Throes of Tahrir Square
On its opening day, 1s February, 2018, the Egyptian National Theatre in downtown Cairo showcased Laugh Till/When You Die (Idhak lama t’moot), Lenin el Ramly’s last play, directed by his longtime artistic partner Essam el Sayed. The play, …
Oslo vs. The Accords: Examining the Global Consequences of Fractional Truths on Stage
J.T. Rogers’ Tony Award winning play, Oslo, gives us a front row seat to the secret backchannel negotiations that made the Oslo Accords possible. The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 by representatives from both Israel and Palestine, offered hope …
Yussef El Guindi’s Hostages: Thirty Years Later and Still Frighteningly Relevant
“You cheer your team when they score a goal, yes? You wave the flag, you cheer your troops … And after you cheer you switch off the TV and forget. You forget what has been done. For you. In your …
From Dystopia to Utopia: Finding Hope in Now You Have A Trial by BGST
For a while, I have been interested in the ways how the contemporary theatre in Turkey deals with the current political situation, how theatre responds to and reflects the political turmoil which is being described with such language as “polarization,” …
We are talking about Contemporary Theatre and Politics in Turkey
Upon looking at Turkey from afar one can see several negative processes. The first thing that comes to our mind is imprisoned journalists, academics, politicians and artists. The Constitution which was passed after the 1980 coup still has the same …
Arab World Contributions to the Avignon Festival, 2019
The 2019 edition of the leading international theatre festival at Avignon offered two contributions from the Arab World among its featured presentations. These were Mahmoud & Nini , written and directed by Henri Jules Julien, from the Tarmac Theatre in …
Middle Eastern Representation at the Brussel’s Kunstenfestivaldesarts, 2019
The Kusntenfestivaldesarts 2019 (Brussels) hosted several shows from Middle Eastern artists this year. Reflecting and sensitivity to presenting a diversity of shows from different cultures, shows from the Middle East are presented in each edition of this festival. They are …
Events from the Arab/Islamic World at the 2019 PRELUDE Festival, New York
Sanaz Ghajar, Iranian Girlfriend (October 3)
PRELUDE 2019, the sixteenth annual Prelude Festival presented by the Martin E. Segal Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and co-curated by Sanaz Ghajar and David Bruin with the theme Riotous Excursions, enjoyed …
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Al-Marakbi and Ceaseless Visibility: The Creation of “Docile Bodies” and a “Disciplinary Society”
“When asked about his opinion on the phenomenon of ‘political control of a population,’ Foucault responded, “. . .power had to gain access to the bodies of individuals, to their acts, attitudes, and modes of everyday behavior . . . …
Review of Modern and Contemporary Political Theater from the Levant: A Critical Anthology
It is always refreshing when one finds in the market a new collection of translated Arabic plays. Recently an anthology of Arabic plays appeared. published by Brill as part of a series titled, Studies on Performing Arts & Literature of …
