A new controversial play dabbles with solutions for a region crippled by socio-political crises
In times of crisis, artists always try to find a thread in any conflict and harp on it to give the impression that they have reached the heart of the matter.
But rarely would you find a work that knits all the threads into a powerful, realistic and telling image.
“Al Shafra (The Code), currently playing at Downtown’s Faisal Nada Theatre, is perhaps one of the very few works that have managed to subtly and artistically piece together the scattered parts of the Arab dilemma, hammering home the idea that the way out rests in a “code .
Starring veteran actor Abdel Aziz Makhyun, written by Ahmed Morsi and directed by Kamal Attia, “Al Shafra premiered on Thursday drawing the attention of theater buffs who, according to Attia, were the target audience of the four-hour performance.
Like most of today’s serious theater, “Al Shafra carries a strong political message now given a boost with the current spirit of democracy in the country.
“But despite that big democratic margin, we had to grapple with censors who were still worried about the strong connotations of this work, revealed Attia.
And when you watch the play, you realize exactly what he means.
Through symbolism “Al Shafra depicted the few weeks preceding the invasion of Iraq. It set the scene in a semi-reformed, semi-dictator-free country to drive home the idea that the reform measures dictated by the West would eventually amount to a different kind of occupation.
The show opens with an encounter between Ali Seif El Nasr, president of the Republic of Bashrstan, and Robotica, an industrial superpower. The president refuses the demands of the Robotica, which had been given a concession to exploit Bashrstan’s fine sands to manufacture silicon used to manufacture microchips, robot parts and artificial organs for humans.
But when the president is told through a report prepared by Mahmud Askar, a genius electrical engineer, that the deal clinched with Robotica would deplete Bashrstan of its sands and put the country at risk of being flooded by sea water, he is reluctant to extend the concession.
The technological boom in Bashrstan and the electronic organs planted in the bodies of hundreds of its citizens are the fruits of Robotica’s aid given in return for using its sands.
Robotica, whose agents in Bashrstan are all robots, dispatches its ambassador to the president to negotiate a new “deal.
He was given an ultimatum: Unless he renewed the concession, he will be replaced by chef Ezzedin Sharif Al Wazan (played by Makhyun), an opposition leader the current president had committed to a lunatic asylum for the past ten years to get a tighter grip on the country.
In a shocking turn of events Al Wazan turns out to be another disappointment for Robotica. He too refuses to succumb to the superpower’s will, prompting an all out invasion of Bashrstan.
But this is no ordinary invasion. Not only will it destroy the country, but it will also use a secret code to hamper the artificial organs in hundreds of people’s bodies and end their lives.
For the first time the president and his archenemy Al Wazan unite to garner people’s support. But it was too late. The people have been too drugged for too long, despite the dictator’s claims that he had given them freedom of thought, freedom of expression and a true democracy.
For them Al Wazan too was no better because his logic had always been too sophisticated to the ordinary man on the street to fathom.
Preoccupied by football tournaments, the cheap songs of Rashid Nuaa (played by Ahmed Morsi) and drugs – ills that had been injected by the regime inculcate its control – the people are unable to act. Brainwashed by the greed for material comfort and easy living, they have become as programmed and as maneuverable as Robotica’s robot agents.
While Askar is desperately attempting to decipher the code to save the nation, we are shockingly told: It’s too late, the people need a code.
But the play isn’t all dead serious. Screens showing footage of two TV presenters’ sarcastic comments on the development of the crisis provides comic relief.
Applause should also go to Makhyun, an old hand on the stage who rose to the audience’s expectations with his down-to-earth acting style and resonant lines that reverberate at the climax of the play.
His amazing ability to join and encourage skilled budding actors will remain a jewel crowning his acting career.
