Short Arabic Plays: An Anthology

by Salma Khadra Jayyusi

It is only in fairly recent times that Arab writers have turned their hands to the theater. This collection of nineteen short plays is evidence of the remarkable strides made as numerous playwrights have come to grips with the problems and potential involved with this genre. The essence of the collection is its sheer variety. The subject matter ranges from the horrors of a political prison camp to the comic tribulations of furtive lovers trapped in a minefield, from historical fable to the world of official bureaucracy, while dramatic treatments range from the conventional to the highly experimental, some using surreal techniques—now disturbing, now hilariously amusing. Many of the plays use humor or pungent satire to address distinctively Arab issues and problems, whether these have their source outside or inside the Arab world itself. The collection gives a valuable insight into a fast-changing and increasingly distinctive area of modern Arabic literature. Featured authors and plays: Yusuf al-'Ani -- Where the Power Lies Fateh Azzam and others -- Ansar Samia Qazmouz Bakri -- The Alley Mahmoud Diyab -- Men Have Heads Ahmad Ibrahim al-Fagih -- The Singing of the Stars Alfred Farag -- The Person Tawfiq al-Hakim -- Boss Kanduz’s Apartment Building Tawfiq al-Hakim -- War and Peace Jamal Abu Hamdan -- Actress J’s Burial Night Walid Ikhlasi -- Pleasure Club 21 Riad Ismat -- Was Dinner Good, Dear Sister? Raymond Jbarra -- The Traveler Sultan Ben Muhammad al-Qasimi -- The Return of Hulegu 'Ali Salim -- The Coffee Bar Mamduh Udwan -- The Mask Mamduh Udwan -- Reflections of a Garbage Collector Sa'd al-Din Wahba -- The Height of Wisdom Sa'dallah Wannus -- The Glass Café Sa'dallah Wannus -- The King's Elephant

Genres: Theatre, Plays, Anthologies

Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

About the author

Salma Khadra Jayyusi (born 1926 or 1927) is a Jordanian-Palestinian poet, writer, translator and anthologist. She is the founder and director of the Project of Translation from Arabic (PROTA), which aims to provide translation of Arabic literature into English.

In 1960, she published her first poetry collection, Return from the Dreamy Fountain. In 1970, she received her PhD on Arabic literature from the University of London. She taught at the University of Khartoum from 1970 to 1973 and at the universities of Algiers and Constantine from 1973 to 1975. In 1973, she was invited by The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) invited her for a lecture tour of Canada and the US, on a Ford Foundation Fellowship, in 1973. In 1975, the University of Utah invited her to return as a visiting professor of Arabic literature, and since then she has been based at various universities in the United States.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where the Power Lies-Cute play. The humor was great and a wonderful vindication of corrupt power systems that exist everywhere.
Ansar-Well that was brutal. I really loved how much this was a play and not short story in play format. I could easily see this put on the stage and having a very powerful impact.
Baggage-(same author as Ansar) again, what a great drama. I'm honestly blown away by the themes here.
The Alley-I liked the pacing, as it draws you in then takes you for a ride. Also, wow, so much Palestinian theatre represented in this anthology.
Men Have Heads-Not Bad. The subtext I read is that the wife manipulated the entire situation to effect the change in her husband that she wanted, but plays along because women can't have a deciding role in anything.
The Singing of the Stars-I really wanted this to go somewhere. It had potential and appropriate twists and turns but then becomes a tired repeat of a woman avoiding a scandal and a very unrealistic exit.
The Person-In principle, I like what it has to say, but the stage directions seem to want to bog it down into absurdism that can be effective, but isn't necessary to communicate how life transpires.
Boss Kanduz' Apartment Building-A comedy where the central conceit is that the words for "apartment" and "daughter" are similar enough that a contract for obtaining one can be confused for the other. If it weren't so misogynistic, it might be funny.
War and Peace-Women are manipulative. What an innovative concept. War is thoughtful and kind, but able to fight and peace is hot-headed but a romantic. I don't know if making them more than just caricatures makes me happy or sad.
Actress J's Burial Night-One of the best plays in the anthology. And probably really wonderful to see an actress relive her life on stage.
Pleasure Club-Sweet jebus. Yes there are other things wrong with this play (and other things that are okay with it), but it has a Black Man in a cage who, with one exception, speaks only in grunts and is eventually auctioned off. That's my review.
Was Dinner Good, Dear Sister-The socio-political commentary here is good.
The Traveler-As murder-mysteries go, this one was a refreshing take on the concept.
The Return of Hulegu-I have literally nothing positive to say.
The Coffee Bar-With the exception of the end, I really like the portrayal of corruption and dictatorship in this one. Much better than most of the others in the anthology.
The Mask-So problematic. I want to like so much about this, but the "twist" was obvious almost from the beginning, and the end was painful instead of shocking.
Reflections of a Garbage Collector-Again, social commentary done right.
The Height of Wisdom-I felt like this wanted to have something more to say but never quite achieved its goal.
The Glass Café-I will admit to not having fully understood this one. I might need to re-read it or possibly actually see it in order to understand it.
The King’s Elephant-Again, they use metaphor to express a larger and more complicated concept. I understand why poetry was the best preferred literary medium, the authors seem to generally prefer metaphor.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of twenty short plays by sixteen authors, all but one translated from Arabic. Most are written in an experimental modernist or surrealist style; some deal allegorically with the question of Palestine, others are satires on bureaucracy or public apathy. Nearly all are in some way political, although a few are more existential. All were worth reading; I wonder if I will ever see any performed.

[Grady · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've admired and enjoyed others of Salma Khadra Jayyusi's anthologies, and my rating of this one reflects my highly subjective reaction, not a judgment on the artistic merits of the short plays collected in this book. I'm glad to have read them, but am struck by the degree to which most of the plays (1) deploy their characters as metaphors or personifications of abstract concepts, rather than emotionally believable individuals; and (2) the extent to which the central problem of so many of the plays is resistance to colonialism/ imperialism, with the dominant mood bitter outrage, sometimes sardonic, sometimes horrified. There's nothing invalid about that theme or key, and there are good historical reasons for both to appeal to modern Arab writers. Still I'd have loved to read some plays that were about the characters themselves, and showed more interest in the way human nature mixes the bitter with the sweet.

[Alex Kartelias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of plays. Many were entertaining and by far my favorite was "War and Peace" by Tawfiq Al- Hakim.