Sami Abdul-Hamid.

Sami Abdul-Hamid, one of the most significant directors of the modern Iraqi theatre, died on Sunday, 29 September 2019, at the age of 91. He was born in Samaqah, Iraq, in 1928 and studied theatre in London and the United States, gaining degrees from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the University of Oregon. He gained a major reputation as an actor, director and author, writing a number of books, translating others, and creating dozens of important research papers in the theatrical arts. He served as the Baghdad University professor in Dramatic Sciences at the Faculty of Fine Arts and was also a member of the Iraqi Theater Committee and the Iraqi Center for Theater, as well as president of the Arab Theatrical Union and the head many other artistic bodies. He took part in a series of prestigious theatrical festivals as the event’s director in addition to attending as a director or guest and received many prestigious awards.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, produced in four different locations between 1977 and 1979 was Hamid’s most ambitious and provocative production. One version, given in the Greek amphitheater in the ruins of Babylon, before an audience of 2000, used a cast of 63 and included the crossing of rivers and wandering through forests. The most provocative performance took place in Damascus in June 1979 during the Iraqi-Syrian unity talks, reminding the Syrian’s of Iraq’s historical and cultural seniority. Among his many other important productions were Antigone, The Zanj Revolution, The House of Bernarda Alba, Hamlet, Othello and Waiting for Godot.

Arab Stages
Volume 11 (Fall 2019)
©2019 by Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Publications

Founders: Marvin Carlson and Frank Hentschker

Editor-in-Chief: Marvin Carlson

Editorial and Advisory Board: Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Dina Amin, Khalid Amine, Hazem Azmy, Dalia Basiouny, Katherine Donovan, Masud Hamdan, Sameh Hanna, Rolf C. Hemke, Katherine Hennessey, Areeg Ibrahim, Jamil Khoury, Dominika Laster, Margaret Litvin, Rebekah Maggor, Safi Mahfouz, Robert Myers, Michael Malek Naijar, Hala Nassar, George Potter, Juan Recondo, Nada Saab, Asaad Al-Saleh, Torange Yeghiazarian, Edward Ziter.

Managing Editors: Jacquelyn Marie Shannon and Adam Ashraf El-Sayigh

Table of Contents:

1. In Memoriam: Sami Abdul-Hamid
2. Humanism through performative arts: A comparative study of My Papers Weren’t Done? and Zapi Rouge by Daniela Potenza
3. We Live in Cairo by Margaret Litvin
4. Laugh Till/When You Die: The Throes of Tahrir Square by Karma Sami
5. Oslo vs. The Accords: Examining the Global Consequences of Fractional Truths on Stage by Marina J. Bergenstock
6. Yussef El Guindi’s Hostages: Thirty Years Later and Still Frighteningly Relevant by Michael Malek Najjar
7. From Dystopia to Utopia: Finding Hope in Now You Have A Trial by BGST by Eylem Ejder
8. We are talking about Contemporary Theatre and Politics in Turkey by Handan Salta and Eylem Ejder
9. Arab World Contributions to the Avignon Festival, 2019 by Marvin Carlson
10. Middle Eastern Representation at the Brussel’s Kunstenfestivaldesarts (2019) by Manuel García Martínez
11. Events from the Arab/Islamic World at the 2019 PRELUDE Festival, New York by Jacquelyn Marie Shannon and Dohyun Gracia Shin
12. Al-Marakbi and Ceaseless Visibility: The Creation of “Docile Bodies” and a “Disciplinary Society” by Dina Amin
13. Review of Modern and Contemporary Political Theater from the Levant: A Critical Anthology by Ibrahim Areeg
14. The Boatman: A Play by Sameh Mahran | Translated by Dina Amin

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Martin E. Segal Theatre Center
Frank Hentschker, Executive Director
Marvin Carlson, Director of Publications
Rebecca Sheahan, Managing Director

Arab Stages is a publication of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center ©2019
ISSN 2376-1148

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