It is what every writer is afraid of – presenting an unfinished work to an open audience. Yet that was precisely the purpose of the evening at the British Council which, jointly with London’s Royal Court Theater, organized the New Writing for Theater Project.
Sunday’s event at the British Council garden started with playwrights singing impromptu songs from the Arab world. If it was possible to recreate the Middle East in Egypt, no better way to begin the evening than with the call to prayer merging with voices caught adrift, calls of hawkers, shopkeepers, and, of course, tourists.
It was a fitting introduction to an evening of plays in Arabic from seven countries in the region – Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Syria – voicing different ideas; social, political and personal.Uniqueness was something Moroccan writer Jouad Essounani had come to appreciate through the experience. His socio-political “Hassan Lekliches chronicles the life of the title character by following the events in his life, as well as the life of his family, at different times in Moroccan history.
Having previously worked as a writer and director, Essounani found the experience inculcating in him the importance of the tried-and-tested techniques which one tends to forget.
Essounani was among 21 writers selected from over 100 applicants to work with British playwrights April De Angelis and David Greig.
Working with Arab playwrights was not a first for Elyse Dodgson, associate director at the Royal Court – which has worked with Palestinian artists since 1998 – and playwright Greig, who had also worked in Syria. The regional focus and involvement of seven countries was, nevertheless, “rare and unique said Dodgson over the telephone from Royal Court.
Dodgson said the “pioneering idea to work simultaneously with writers across the region was set forth by British Council team members Laila Hourani, regional manager for creativity and mutuality in the Near East and North Africa, and Carole McFadden, drama and dance adviser in the UK.
The first workshop in Damascus in April 2007 was the starting point.
Twenty participants submitted plays, a number much larger than expected by the Royal Court, which usually works with 10 scripts at a time, said Dodgson.
The group met for another workshop in Tunisia in October last year, where scripts were individually discussed with Dodgson and playwrights Greig and De Angelis.
In the recent workshop in Cairo, the plays were further explored with actors under direction of the Royal Courts’ Artistic Director Dominic Cooke as well as Associate Director Elyse Dodgson. The readings were part of the process, and scripts will continue to be revised.
“It takes great humility to show a work in progress, said director of Egypt’s
British Council Paul Smith as he thanked the writers in particular at the evening’s end.
So, was it scary?
“Scary, but good, said Egyptian writer Nada Sabet, who was pleasantly surprised with the actors’ performance. In only a matter of four days, the performers – comprised of the playwrights and six other actors – had produced an entertaining event beyond the expectations set forth by the modestly phrased “play readings.
The excerpt from Sabet’s “House Secrets showed a lovers’ spat where the woman insisted upon an engagement.
While Sabet was pleased, Amani Zawawi described her experience as “tragic. The exaggeratedly effeminate portrayal of Omar in an excerpt from “Voiceless elicited laughter from the audience, and sadly continued into the description of the murder of his lover Shady.
Jordanian Zawawi, whose play was the only one written in English and translated to Arabic for the event, was nevertheless relieved that the homosexual subject matter did not arouse any protest.
The event was one that literally put the writers onstage. Authors sat up-stage, adopting at different times the observant chin-resting-on-hand gesture, facing a relatively laidback audience.
“Knowing how a writer thinks was really useful as an actor, said Mina Al Naggar, who also learned in the four days of his participation to deliver performances in different accents. Moroccan actress Latifa El-Harrare delivered outstanding performances throughout the evening, revealing her versatility as an actress.
Audience member Nadine Emile compared the experience to watching movie trailers. She enjoyed the “rollercoaster ride recalling the historical background in “Hello by Lebanese playwright Tarek Bacha, where two laymen were stuck in a theater during the Lebanese war, to the human element of lovers arguing in Egyptian playwright Shimaa Ali’s “Windows.
Emile, who also happens to be the radio anchor for “Fannation program on 95.4 FM, explained to Daily News Egypt that the secret to arts is sentiments. “If you can really write good sentiments and feelings, you can really act good sentiments and feelings.
“Not your own, though, she added, suggesting writers acted better in others’ plays.
Dodgson agreed that the playwrights performed well “because they understood the work so well, and were integrated into each others’ works for such a long time now.
The evening ended as it began, with an excerpt from “Egyptian Products by Leila Suleiman. A woman who in the first scene takes a man to task for ogling her through a boutique window has arrived to a point where she asks him to marry her.
“By the way, she asks the baffled man, “Do you support Egyptian products?
Local flavor made the experience unique for Dodgson, who was “amazed to have seen the playwrights “bursting into song in harmony onstage. She found the integration of forms – from traditional storytelling into modern theater – as “something special coming out of the region.
Next, the writers will explore their plays further with directors from the region in a directors’ workshop, Dodgson revealed. At least five of the young Arab playwrights’ entire works will be read at an event later this year at the Royal Court Theater in London.
