The soft lighting and captivating simplicity of Al-Azhar’s Wikalet El-Ghoury provided the perfect setting for the stories presented by the Women and Memory Forum (WMF) earlier this week.
Originally founded in 1995, WMF is a non-profit organization composed of researchers and development experts that work to dispel the negative perceptions associated with Arab women.
For more than a decade, the group has organized seminars, workshops, film screenings and theatrical performances to improve the image of Arab women.
Entitled “Women and Memory, WMF’s latest event presented seven fictional stories from Egypt, Palestine and Sudan told through a series of monologues, with a number of actors assuming the role of Shahrazad from “One Thousand and One Nights.
The exceedingly sarcastic tone of the well-written, observant text came to life through the string of hysterical performances, which were met with enthusiasm from the audience. “Our mission is to empower women, to protect them from being fooled, Seham, one of the narrators, told Daily News Egypt.
“I like to be called bint [daughter of] Sanaya, my mother. She was the first to tell me stories, and made me realize their importance and the change it can help bring about, Seham added.
Nearly all of the stories revolve around the relationships between men and women. The majority of the slightly cartoonish characters vary from domineering wives to naïve young women swept off their feet by any kind of compliment.
Another storyline criticizes sultry female singers and the stereotypes many blame them for propagating. Naturally, the name Haifaa, in reference to the famous Lebanese chanteuse, turns up several times throughout the performance.
Beyond the chuckling, cheering and entertainment the performance offers in abundance, one cannot help but wonder what its exact purpose is; whether it can actually bring about a substantial change, even on a small scale.
The brochure says the performance “aims at contributing effectively to the production and dissemination of alternative knowledge concerning women in the Arab region.
“Our stories try to tell women that many concepts in the old fairy tales no longer have a place in our society, Seham said.
Apart from rare instances, men are not depicted as the archenemy as in similar plays. Instead, the performance focuses on the apathy of Arab women, their impracticality, their search for Mr Perfect and the compulsive obsession they have with getting married.
“It is a cultural thing. We want to change this concept, Seham added. “Many women just go for the first man who proposes without even thinking. Once they are in, they realize what they got themselves into.
The stories are brief, ranging from 10 to 15 minutes each, the majority of which carry a clear message. A few, however, felt somehow pointless and disharmonious with the other stories.
One example of the latter is a segment called “Jack in the Box. The story begins with a small boy who adores a toy he keeps locked inside a box. He hardly plays with the lifeless toy.
Moments later, he gets another toy, locks it up in a drawer and treats it with similar indifference. This time though, and to his surprise, the new toy starts talking, bosses him around and instructs him on how to play with it. He hates the toy, throws it out and goes back to the old one.
The message and symbolism of the segment is quite clear: Men can be suppressive and nagging, bossy women are bound to be disregarded. Not only is this unsubtle segment out of tune with the other stories, it is distracting and has little to do with the group’s main objective.
Overall, even in its most conventional moments, the performance was well-constructed and engaging; a testament to how much effort went into producing it.
The stories were written in three workshops, the first of which was held in Cairo in collaboration with the Gender Institute of the University of Beit Zeit for Palestinian female students. The second was held at the Ahfad University of Sudan for students of both genders, while the third was organized at the Egyptian Youth in Cairo Organization.
