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Aksam Alyousef “Harvesting Thorns”: Comedy as Political Theatre in Syria and Lebanon by Aksam Alyousef A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Drama University of Alberta © Aksam Alyousef, 2020 ii ABSTRACT At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 70s, political comedy grew exponentially in Syria and Lebanon. This phenomenon was represented mainly in the Tishreen Troupe ,(مسرح الشوك performances of three troupes: Thorns Theatre (Al-Shuk Theatre مسرح and Ziyad Al-Rahbani Theatre (Masrah Ziyad Al-Rahbani ,(فرقة تشرين Ferqet Tishreen) These works met with great success throughout the Arab world due to the audacity .(زياد الرحباني of the themes explored and their reliance on the familiar traditions of Arab popular theatre. Success was also due to the spirit of the first Arab experimental theatre established by pioneers like Maroun Al-Naqqash (1817-1855) and Abu Khalil Al-Qabbani (1835-1902), who in the second half of the nineteenth century mixed comedy, music, songs and dance as a way to introduce theatre performance to a culture unaccustomed to it. However, this theatre started to lose its luster in the early 1990s, due to a combination of political and cultural factors that will be examined in this essay. iii This thesis depends on historical research methodology to reveal the political, social and cultural conditions that led to the emergence and development (and subsequent retreat) of political theatre in the Arab world. My aim is to, first, enrich the Arab library with research material about this theatre which lacks significant critical attention; and second to add new material to the Western Library, which is largely lacking in research about modern and contemporary Arab theatre and culture. Lastly, this analysis is aimed at developing a theory of political comedy and its cultural relevance to Arab theatre as this form has contributed for many decades to a rise in social and political awareness in the Arab world. iv DEDICATION To my dear wife Amena Shehab and my lovely children, Aram, Ginin, and Alma whose patience, love, and support made my experience of going back to school an enjoyable and positive one. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Department of Drama, faculty, staff and fellow graduate students for their continuous support during my time in the program. A particular thank you to Dr. Stefano Muneroni whose insight and guidance helped me navigate the intricacies of graduate studies. I would like to extend my sincere thank you to the other members of my thesis committee: Dr Srilata Ravi and Professor Lin Snelling. I owe the largest debt of gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Donia Mounsef whose presence, care, and unwavering trust in me made this experience, research and thesis possible. I thank her also for the memorable conversations in Arabic and English around our shared passion for Arabic theatre and performance. Lastly, my deepest appreciation goes to my friends for all their support during the two years of studying, especially Michael Tilleard and Carmen Morgan. Also, a special thank you to Dr. Ajaj Salim, Abeer Wajdi and Mahmmod Orfali for their supporting letters that got me accepted into the program at the University of Alberta. vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................................... 6 Theatre of the Levant ............................................................................................................................ 6 An Historical Overview ............................................................................................................ 6 Comedy as Political Theatre and the Traditions of Popular Theatre ................................... 10 The Emergence of Comedy as Political Theatre in Syria and Lebanon ................................ 18 In Syria. .............................................................................................................................. 18 In Lebanon ......................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER TWO................................................................................................................................. 25 The Syrian Troupes ............................................................................................................................. 25 Thorns Theatre ....................................................................................................................... 25 Tishreen Troupe...................................................................................................................... 30 The Duo Duraid and Nihad ................................................................................................. 31 Ghawwar Al-Toucheh and Hosni Al-Boorazan ................................................................... 33 Muhammad Al-Maghout..................................................................................................... 34 The Harmony of a Vision.................................................................................................... 37 The Problem of Censorship ................................................................................................. 41 The Problem with Criticism ................................................................................................ 43 The Tragic Reality in Al-Maghout’s and Lahham's Comedies ............................................. 46 The Poppy Anemone and the Decline of Teshreen ............................................................... 58 CHAPTER THREE............................................................................................................................. 61 Ziad Al-Rahbani Theatre .................................................................................................................... 61 Soirée and Unexpected Popularity. ............................................................................................ 63 Happiness Hotel and Failing Better ........................................................................................... 64 What about Tomorrow? and Artistic Maturity ........................................................................... 72 A Long American Movie, the Play that Angered the US Government ......................................... 76 A Failing Thing and the Role of Art ........................................................................................... 80 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 83 Works Cited ......................................................................................................................................... 86 1 INTRODUCTION My basic desire was to write a study about the comic political theatre in the Arab world as a whole, however, any such research needs to be done in the Arab region to access the required references that are not available online. Available online resources are sparse and often lacking precision and credibility. Any research on this topic must be extensive to cover theatrical experiences in about 22 Arab countries over a relatively long period, which is beyond the scope of this essay. The question however is: "Why discuss the theatre of Syria and Lebanon together?" The answer to this question includes several factors: First, the performances of political theatre in Syria and Lebanon have similar structures and traditions because they are based on the foundations laid by the pioneers of the Arab theatre in Beirut and Damascus before the two countries were separated by colonialism and the Sykes- Picot agreement1 that divided the Levant into four countries (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine). Second: The common political, social and cultural history goes beyond traditional political interactions, intertwining political standpoints between Syria and Lebanon. Third, the audience is often mixed when it comes to Lebanon and Syria when talking about political issues that touch the lives of Lebanese and Syrians alike. In these two countries with intertwined daily reality, everything is linked to politics in some way. Regardless of the level of the belief of some Syrians and Lebanese in the slogan ‘one people in two countries’ launched by Arab Nationalists2 1 The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a 1916 secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France (represented by diplomats Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot) to define their mutually agreed upon spheres of influence and control of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in an eventual partition of the Ottoman Empire. al-Qawmiya al-Arabīya) is a nationalist ideology that maintains that the Arabs are ,القومية العربية) Arab Nationalism 2 one nation calling for a union between them
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