In the latest fantasy by independent theater troupe Al Tamy, the audience is treated to a one-hour single-act play that comprises more acting than singing.
Al Tamy’s musical performances have been associated with the reproduction of the repertoires of older Egyptian artists like Sheikh Imam and Ahmed Fouad Negm, whose works are regarded as a collective vernacular and popular expression of 1960s’ and 1970s’ Egypt.
Al Tamy, classic word for mud, has been reproducing these works using a witty, successful formula, where they tangle the elements of a comic performance to the words and tones of these songs.
Their work, for the past few years, has revived this classic repertoire, and most importantly has elucidated certain national malaises that still persist today, such as political dissent, economic ailments and cultural debacles.
Today, the group embarks on a different experiment that focuses more on narrative than on music. “Fantasia Al-Lagna, its newest production, opened on Tuesday in Rawabet Theater, a space that has continuously contributed to linking Al Tamy to a wide audience base.
Conceptually, Al Tamy borrow a concept with which art patrons have increasingly identified: the recreation of certain banalities of everyday life and constructing through them a landscape of impressions, sentiments and emotions.
Six young men and women share and reflect on personal testimonials lifted from their daily routines. While some of them beautifully expound on the absurd, like a young man who is in love with his friend’s antique elevator, others present straightforward social sarcasm of Egypt’s contemporary realities.
Cairo, in terms of the urbanity questions it poses, has also been a thematic concern for a lot of the country’s contemporary artists. Direct and indirect references to the capital unfold in the performance. In one of the stories performed by May Sallem, she comically recounts the stereotypes associated with Egyptians abroad, especially in Middle Eastern countries, where mostly warm welcoming notes and appraisal of popular culture become somewhat intriguing to the visitor.
In her piercingly genuine finale, she is on her way back to Cairo, where a sentiment of growing estrangement becomes inescapable at home in contrast with much more warmth experienced abroad.
The constant attempts of surviving the city’s chaos shed a light on another facet of Cairo: a chaos met by further creative chaos. Youssra Al-Hawary and Sedky Sakhr use intensive emotions to delineate, and eventually mock, their conspicuous driving strategies around Cairo, which includes a lot of erring and going astray.
Sallem walks us again through the daily complexity of moving from her house to the theater using public transportation. She kicks off the process by leaving her house, with a good feeling about her looks and outfit and ends with this outfit being completely tarnished by the hardships of the daily trip. She reminds us that upon arrival to the theater, she’d have to pour all those hardships into a creative process by virtue of being part of a theater group.
While the concepts of Cairo and the everyday life might be exhausted by now, there are still endless ways of tapping into them. Salam Youssry, the troupe’s director, did well in guiding his actors to create their own narratives and plot them tightly to engage the audiences.
Youssry is fixed on constantly renovating the style and mechanisms of Al Tamy and does not fail to attract more and more audiences. From the control room, he was monitoring the lighting of the stage, and his use of light was well knotted with the presentation of the narratives. At times, he spontaneously conversed with the actors from the control room, reminding us that those are real anecdotes of the troupe’s daily life.
The show brought out the acting skills of some of the group’s members, in addition to highlighting a confident vocal performance by Ibtihal Sameh. A hand drum and an oud keep the accompaniment music of the show both focused and somewhat austere.
Al Tamy’s fantasy was a good and easy break from a long hectic Cairo day. It made us sit back, relax and laugh at the very stories we encounter every day. At some points, we exchanged quick gazes amongst each other, reminding ourselves how specific references have been, at times, intensively and collectively lived.
Catch “Fantasia Al-Lagna tonight, 8:30 pm, at Rawabet Theater. Tel: 010 551 9208
