Theatre and the Vanguards of the Arab Spring

On 17 December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, age 26, set himself on fire as an act of protest against the confiscation of his fruit-and-vegetable wagon, and against the harassment and humiliation inflicted by the municipal officials of the town of Sidi Bouzid. His burnt body set the spark for the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution the next day, leading longtime president Zin Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country in January 2011. The revolutionary sparks found the right kindling in neighboring Egypt and Libya, and even all the way to Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, and Syria.¹ In the West, media outlets were surprised by the domino effect of mass street protests, public square sit-ins, and the toppling of Arab leaders. The Arab world, which has been fermenting for decades under inhumane living conditions, restricted freedoms, censorship, high unemployment, and dim future prospects, eventually went to the streets to voice outrage against despots—corrupt and autocratic regimes supported by the West. Since then, 24/7 media coverage and a large body of scholarship have started to discuss the role of social media in mobilizing the people: in Egypt, what some call the “coup” and others an “extension of the January 25th revolution,” followed by the new constitution under General Sisi’s military rule; in Syria, the impasse between the Assad government and rebel fighters; in Iran, the debate over nuclear facilities; and across the Arab world, the impact of events on their US relations. Meanwhile, media outlets and experts have been scrambling to make sense of why the Arab world is suddenly in revolt.

The ongoing protests we are still witnessing in the Arab world have been waged before, targeted both internally and also at the West. However, analysis of this volatile region always seems to originate from the perspectives of political analysts, anthropologists, social scientists, and experts on Islam and its history, often at the expense of any focus on literary or cultural production. One cannot help but notice the comparative lack of scholarship in English on theatre and drama in the Middle East in general, and in the Arab world in particular, in spite of the staggering number of studies done in Arabic on the topics. Of the many possible explanations, most prominent among them is a lack of familiarity both with Arabic as a language and the cultural context with which any researcher needs to review manuscripts and journal and newspaper articles and to conduct interviews. This language and culture gap means that the West remains deeply unaware of the fact that when it comes to theatre and drama in the postcolonial Arab world, there are heated debates that argue between modernity and traditions, between Western adaptations and local voices, between the role of theatre in politicizing the masses and art for art’s sake, and the relevance of utilizing hybrid performances—all reflecting questions raised by theatre-makers, artists, and Arab citizens alike.

Certainly, the events of 9/11 prompted a surge in teaching Arabic as a foreign language and created an increasing demand for Arab-native speakers in the American academy. As a result, many Centers for Middle East Studies began to introduce new courses on the politics and society of the Arab world, recruited more faculty members, and promoted study abroad, internships, and Arabic-language study beyond US campuses, at sites across the Arab world. In spite of all these efforts, a noticeable scarcity persists when it comes to shedding light on the rich cultural heritages of the region. For instance, after a quick look at the Middle East Studies Association program of...