Setting the Stage for Egypt’s Independent Theatre Scene
For well over a hundred years, Egypt’s art scene, especially her performing arts, have placed the country at the center of the region’s cultural landscape. Egyptian theatrical performances have captured the hearts and minds of locals and expats alike, and the country has built up an inspiring legacy over the years. Now, a new generation of independent writers, producers and performers has taken the reins, bringing with it a whole new form of theatre.
It was during the late 19th century that the theatre as we know it today was introduced to Egypt, but the history of performing arts goes back quite a bit further than this. In ancient Egypt, religious rituals were performed in front of royalty, poetic plays and epics were recited, including the creation myth of Isis and Osiris. When the Greeks and Romans arrived, they brought with them their own traditions and built their won theatres in Alexandria. During Mamluk rule, around the 13th century, shadow theatre became extremely popular and was an important part of folk art. Napoleon reportedly had a theatre troupe that would perform comedies for the French soldiers.
The Azbakeya Theatre - Image Credit
But it was the mid-to-late-1800s that really saw the rise of the Egyptian theatre, and Khedive Ismail was very much at the heart of this. He had made it his mission to turn Cairo into a city that could rival Paris, in both beauty and cultural significance. He established the Royal Opera House in 1869 in Ataba Square, commissioning Italian composer Verdi to produce the iconic Opera Aida, meant to be performed in celebration of the Suez Canal opening; the opera wasn’t completed in time however and was performed much later.
In 1885, the relatively new National Theatre in Azbakeya, also established by the ambitious Khedive, hosted its first performance by a local troupe, the Abu Khalil Qabbani troupe, and was later one of the stages upon which Um Kalthoum performed. Yacub Sanua, a Jewish-Egyptian journalist and playwright, also played a huge role in the development of Egyptian theater, translating an impressive number of international works into colloquial Arabic to be presented to a local audience. Sanua first had the support of Khedive Ismail, both financial and political, however this didn’t last and eventually Sanua began to perform plays that openly mocked the ruling class, including the Khedive himself.
The theatre scene in Egypt continued to flourish over the coming few decades, with new forms of performances being introduced like the operetta and comedic plays that reflected Egyptian society at the time. By the mid-1900s, a whole wave of social and political change would sweep through the country, led by the Free Officers.
The Ministry of Culture was introduced after the 1952 revolution, headed by Tharwat Okasha, and the Academy of Arts was established as a unified, and nationalized, institution for the education of the country’s artists. But constraints around the arts were tight and the government kept strict control over what was being produced and how. The arts, from theatre to film, had to a large degree become the voice piece of the newly formed government and censorship was strong.
By the 1980s and 90s, a new free theatre movement took over the country in an effort to disconnect from the institutional voice of the government. Independent troupes like El Warsha, managed to this day by Hassan El Geretly, were founded, along with Ahmed Al Attar’s the Temple Independent Theatre Company and Mohamed Abdel-Khaliq’s Atelier Al Masrah. Al Hanager Center in the Cairo Opera House was established as a space for independent performances, however the venue is still run by the state.
Today, only a handful of theatres remain and contemporary artists are faced with a lack of spaces to rehearse and perform, as well as a lack of funding. Playwrights and performers have embraced the need to get creative and find new ways to keep their art alive. Experimental theatre is beginning to make an appearance on stage, and new troupes like the Lamusica Independent Theatre Group are changing the way performances are held.
While the Ministry of Culture does still contribute a great deal, the future of Egypt’s contemporary performing arts scene rests to a great degree in the hands of its independent artists. Venues like AUC’s Malak Gabr Theatre and Gerhart Theatre regularly hold amazing plays, very often in English, and state-run theatres like Cairo Opera’s El Hanager Arts Center and Al Gomhoreya provide space for both private and public performances. The scene in Egypt is once again going through a state of flux, evolving and adapting to our modern world. We cannot wait to see where it will take us.