The al Madinah Theater in Beirut hosts the Egyptian al Maabad Troupe which will stage the play “It’s a Wonderful Life or Waiting My Uncle Coming From America” for three consecutive days ending next Sunday.
Illustrating the play’s title, Attar told the daily al Nahar, “It’s a Wonderful Life is the title of an American film by Frank Capra, 1946, or the song al Hayat Holwa (Life is Beautiful) for Farid al Atrash. The second part of the title Waiting…has been extracted from the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett while the third part is My Uncle Coming From America. I took the three names and mixed them together.”
He added, “the title may hint something or indicate something completely the opposite. Life is Beautiful has its significance in our modern history through the late singer Farid al Atrash and it is also a phrase that attracts attention. Spectators will also have a preview of the play.”
“My writing resembles the absurd theater but not the style of Beckett. I am the writer of the Egyptian contemporary absurd theater. My style is intermittent and fully interrelated and at the same time I play around with language,” Attar pointed out.
The play is about the daily life of members of a modern Egyptian family, which their life itself constitutes a crisis. “The play spies secretly on this family. Events progress without any clear link between them. Every character is driven by its own concerns and desires. In the play we open doors and reveal secrets that cannot be seen by anybody. These represent the relations between individuals and how they became these days, their expectations and where they are heading,” said Attar -- Albawaba.com
