Egyptian director Ahmed Abdel Halim is currently presenting the play al Malek Lear (King Lear) at the National Theater in Egypt. The play was translated by Fatma Mousa and costarring Yehya al Fkhrani, Sawsan Bader, Ashraf Abdel Ghafour, Lutfi Labib and Salwa Mohammed Ali.
The last direction work for Abdel Halim was five years ago in the play al Tayyeb Wa al Shirreer (Good and Evil) by Alfred Farag which was performed at al Salam Theater. Costarring in the play were also Yahya al Fkhrani and Sawsan Bader.
“There is no doubt that each theatrical work has its own vision. I directed this play with the spirit of an Egyptian man so that the public will grasp it despite that fact that it was by Shakespeare and English one. The play tackles the issues of sons’ disobedience and state’s break up. When King Lear tears the map of big nations to transform them into small entities, bloody conflicts immediately erupts between them but had they remained one big state, they could have countered any catastrophe. The play has political as well as social dimensions. At the same time I presented the topic in such a manner that can be understood by the ordinary person who hears about Shakespeare or King Lear and thinks the play is too complicated. I presented the character of the clown as a narrator who tells the audience the clown’s opinion, which represents the pulse of people. When the king collapses, the clown also collapses near him. I also used the poems of Ahmed Fuad Nagem because they are close to the people -- Albawaba.com
