Of kings and clowns : representations of leadership in contemporary Egyptian theatre, 1967-2018

Abstract

This research explores the development of the discourse of power and the role in the development of this discourse of the arts and artists as dramatised in contemporary Egyptian theatre from 1967 to 2018. While Egyptian theatre of the pre-1967 and post-2011 periods has received comparably more scholarly attention in Western academia, the post-1967 period has generally been neglected. This period has been described as one of decline and as such of no scholarly interest. Through detailed analyses of Egyptian plays of the period in question, predominantly those by Abū al-ʿIlā al-Salāmūnī and Lenin al-Ramlī, this study fills an important gap in existing scholarship by linking the pre-1967 and post-2011 developments in Egyptian theatre. As such, it aims to achieve a better understanding of the revolutionary and post-revolutionary developments in Egyptian theatre in the context of the socio-political and cultural life of the country. The prologue introduces the topic and the concerns of the research. The six content chapters are grouped into two chronological periods. Chapters one to four focus on the plays of the last three decades of the twentieth century, and chapters five and six examine twenty-first-century plays. Chapter one examines the representations in the plays of characters who practise leadership. Chapter two discusses the self-reflexive technique of representing intellectual leadership in the form of theatre within theatre. Chapter three discusses the representations of common members of society and society as a whole. Chapter four is devoted to analyses of female characters in Egyptian plays. Chapter five looks at al-Salāmūnī’s and al-Ramlī’s work in the early twenty-first century, examining their returns to the issues discussed in the previous chapters. Chapter six identifies how the 2011 revolution and the events following it have been reflected in theatre. The epilogue summarises the conclusions of the research.