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In Modern and Contemporary Political Theater from the Levant, A Critical Anthology, Robert Myers and Nada Saab provide a sense of the variety and complexity of political theater produced in and around the Levant from the 1960s to the present within a context of wider discussions about political theater and the histories and forms of performance from the Islamic and Arab worlds. Five major playwrights are studied, ʿIsam Mahfuz, from Lebanon; Muhammad al-Maghut and Saʿd Allah Wannus, from Syria; Jawad al-Asadi, from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon; and Raʾida Taha, from Palestine. The volume includes translations of their plays The Dictator, The Jester, The Rape, Baghdadi Bath and Where Would I Find Someone Like You, ʿAli?, respectively.
Offers new perspectives on Sa'dallah Wannous' significance as a playwright and public intellectual in the Arab world and world theatre.
Cultural expressions of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have a rich tradition, communal narratives, and spiritual connectivity. This tapestry, distinct from the secular drama prevalent in Western cultures, is a unique blend of indigenous traditions and Western influences. This book introduces the rich and diverse theatrical practices developed and matured in the region from the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries. The introduction of Western-style theatre in the nineteenth century marked a shift from traditional entertainment forms. In the twentieth century, subjects of colonialism, nationalism, independence, and Islamic ideology have often dominated the theatrical discourse, reflecting the region’s socio-political realities. The book’s final section looks at theatre from a twenty-first global perspective, including the crucial role of the diaspora. This book shows how colonialism, Islamic ideology, politics, war, refugee crisis, and nationalism have permeated MENA’s theatre in the past and have continued to shape it in the present.
This handbook aims mainly at an analytical documentation of all the known textual remnants and the preserved artifacts of Arabic shadow theatre, a long-lived, and still living, tradition — from the earliest sightings in the tenth century to the turn of the twentieth century. The book consists of three main parts and a cluster of appendixes. Part One presents a history of Arab shadow theatre through a survey of medieval and premodern accounts and modern scholarship on the subject. Part Two takes stock of primary sources (manuscripts), published studies, and the current knowledge of various aspects of Arabic shadow theatre: language, style, terminology, and performance. Part Three offers an inventory of all known Arabic shadow plays. The documentation is based on manuscripts (largely unpublished), printed texts (scripts, excerpts), academic studies (in Arabic and Western languages), journalist reportage, and shadow play artifacts from collections worldwide.
The first major English-language collection of plays and essays by Syrian playwright Sa'dallah Wannous Sa'dallah Wannous is acknowledged to be one of the Arab world's most significant playwrights, writers, and intellectuals of the twentieth century. This is the first major English-language collection that brings together his most significant plays and essays. Selections include the groundbreaking 1969 play An Evening's Entertainment for the Fifth of June, a scathing indictment of the duplicity of Arab leaders during the 1967 War, as well as Wannous's most celebrated play, Rituals of Signs and Transformations, a bold treatment of homosexuality, prostitution, clerical corruption, and the quest for female liberation. In addition to his work as a playwright, Wannous, like Brecht, was an astute theatrical and cultural critic, and his essays, some of which are included here, offer shrewd diagnoses of the ills of Arab society and the essential role of theater in ameliorating them.
“Isabella Hammad is a master of subtle nuance.” — New York Times After years away from her family’s homeland, and reeling from a disastrous love affair, actress Sonia Nasir returns to Haifa to visit her older sister Haneen. This is her first trip back since the second intifada and the deaths of their grandparents: while Haneen made a life here commuting to Tel Aviv to teach at the university, Sonia remained in London to focus on her acting career and now dissolute marriage. On her return, she finds her relationship to Palestine is fragile, both bone-deep and new. At Haneen’s, Sonia meets the charismatic and candid Mariam, a local director, and finds herself roped into a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Sonia is soon rehearsing Gertude’s lines in Classical Arabic and spending more time in Ramallah than Haifa, along with a dedicated group of men from all over historic Palestine who, in spite of competing egos and priorities, each want to bring Shakespeare to that side of the wall. As opening night draws closer it becomes clear just how many violent obstacles stand before a troupe of Palestinian actors. Amidst it all, the life Sonia once knew starts to give way to the daunting, exhilarating possibility of finding a new self in her ancestral home. A stunning rendering of present-day Palestine, Enter Ghost is a story of diaspora, displacement, and the connection to be found in family and shared resistance. Timely, thoughtful, and passionate, Isabella Hammad’s highly anticipated second novel is an exquisite feat, an unforgettable story of artistry under occupation.
Contemporary Plays from Iraq is a ground-breaking collection of Middle Eastern drama translated into English for the very first time. With works from both established and emerging male and female playwrights, written in country and in exile, this volume offers current Iraqi perspectives on a war and occupation that have significantly impacted the Middle East and the rest of the world. Dealing exclusively with contemporary plays originating from Iraq, this anthology gives under-studied Arabic political theatre the attention it deserves and provides a general introduction that sets the plays within their cultural and historical contexts. The plays are preceded by introductions from the playwrights themselves, further enriching each piece for the enjoyment and understanding of the reader. The volume is introduced and translated by James Al-Shamma, Assistant Professor at Belmont University, US, and A. Al-Azraki, an Iraqi playwright.
The collected essays from noteworthy dramatists and scholars in this book represent new ways of understanding theater in the Middle East not as geographical but transcultural spaces of performance. What distinguishes this book from previous works is that it offers new analysis on a range of theatrical practices across a region, by and large, ignored for the history of its dramatic traditions and cultures, and it does so by emphasizing diverse performances in changing contexts. Topics include Arab, Iranian, Israeli, diasporic theatres from pedagogical perspectives to reinvention of traditions, from translation practices to political resistance expressed in various performances from the nineteenth century to the present.
Despite, or even because of their tumultuous history, Palestinians are renowned for being prolific cultural producers, creating many of the Arab world's most iconic works of literature. In particular, the Palestinian short story stands out for its unique interplay between literary texts and the political and historical contexts from which they emerge. Palestinian Literature in Exile is the first English language study to explore this unique genre. Joseph Farag employs an interdisciplinary approach to examine the political function of literary texts and the manner in which cultural production responds to crucial moments in Palestinian history. Drawing from the works of Samira Azzam, Ghassan Kanafani and Ibrahim Nasrallah, Farag traces developments in the short story as they relate to the pivotal events of what the Palestinians call the Nakba ('catastrophe'), Naksa ('defeat') and First Intifada ('uprising'). In analysing several as yet un-translated works, Farag makes an original contribution to the subject of exilic identity and subjectivity in Palestinian literature. This book offers the opportunity to engage with literary works as well to learn from a literary account of history.It is a subject of interest for students and scholars of both Arabic literature and Middle East studies.
Drawing on medieval Arabic sources and earlier scholarship, this book is a study of the life and work of Ibn D?niy?l (d. 1310). It also presents the first full English translation of his shadow play "The Phantom.”