Egyptian director Hana Abdul Fattah is currently wrapping up the final rehearsals for the play Hallaq Bghdad (Baghdad’s Barber) written by the renowned playwright Alfred Farag in order to stage it soon.
Costarring in the play are Mahmoud al Gondi, Rania Farid Shawki and Ahmed Farouq al Fishawi.
“This is the second time in which Baghdad’s Barber will be staged at the state run theater. It was portrayed for the first time in 1962,” the director told the UAE al Bayan adding, “I was enthusiastic to offer it again out of my care to revive our heritage similar to the revival of the western heritage. The same way we revive works for Shakespeare, Mullier and Bricht, we should revive the heritage of our theater giants including Alfred Farag, Saadiddin Wahbeh, Michel Romman, Noman Ashour and Mahmoud Diab.”
The other objective was to familiarize the Arab new generations with their theatrical heritage, said the director.
“I repeat its portrayal in a modern style and not as a feature from the museum. The importance of the new vision lies here as this script conveys an eternal intellectual message for a usual human behavior depicted by the curiosity role played by the main character in the play Abu al Fudhool. I think this idea is very basic for the human entity. My modern vision in this respect does not prompt me to denounce Abu al Fudhool because I consider every one us him. Every one of us is thirsty for knowledge which is a parallel and supportive to the vision of the prominent writer Alfred Farag,” Abddel Fattah said commenting on the play.
He added, “the other message which the play tackles is the conception of freedom. Freedom cannot be fragmented and nobody can live happily in a society that lacks freedom. This depicts the model of Abu al Fudhool whom the Caliph gives security in order to enable him express his opinion with utmost freedom.”
“The new thing in the play is the provision of a number of Muwashahat (terza merza) selected by Intisar Abdel Fattah who used them within the framework of the play in an attempt to comment on the events and to create the appropriate environment for the play. This is due to the fact that Muwashaht are considered as an introduction to prepare the spectator to see this top comedy. The Muwashat are performed by Mahmoud al Gondi and Madi Fikri along with a number of singers,” the director added.
“The play Baghdad’s Barber is one of the most beautiful scripts written by Alfred Farag. It reminds us with the theater flourishing period in the sixties during which top notch plays were performed,” said al Gondi -- Albawaba.com
