Osama Kamal enjoys an art form that may be as old as humanity but manages to be incredibly new The art of storytelling is both ancient and eternal. For millennia, oral recitation was the means by which myth and history were recorded to hand down a people's experiences and traditions, their history and hopes, from one generation to another. Before reading and writing became common, and before other forms of entertainment upstaged the professional raconteur, there was no other way to pass on knowledge of the heritage, culture and morality of a community. The printing press, and much later radio, film and television, ended the supremacy of the traditional storyteller, but to some the allure of the art remains very much alive. Now a new generation of talented performers is offering the tradition with a new twist to a modern audience. A recent storytelling performance at the Rawabet Theatre featured tales from the 25 January Revolution. The storytellers remembered, wove and invented stories of ordinary people in extraordinary times. They told ten stories during the evening. One was the tale of Om Moudi, a housewife who normally spent her days cooking or chatting with her neighbours. When the revolution erupted, however, she threw herself into activity and started cooking for the revolutionaries. The central character of another story was Abnob, a Coptic teenager who had just embarked on his first romantic experience when he went to demonstrate in front of the Zawya Al-Hamra police station, where he died of a gunshot wound. Fathi, a young man with no interest in politics, was drawn into the unfolding drama, at first reluctantly and then with the full force of a revolutionary enthusiast. Sabrin was a homeless girl, isolated and resentful. During the revolution, however, she came to enjoy the companionship of many of the women who joined in the protests. After the protests ended, she felt isolated once more. Another young woman, a medical student, was a conformist prior to the revolution. Her family was shocked when she decided to take part in the protests, but she felt she had to join in. A woman who in the past had engaged in petty theft found herself at odds with her husband when the revolution began. He wanted to use the events to carry out more thefts, while she wanted to use the opportunity to make a new start. Karim took part in the revolution from day one, marching in the protests, participating in the sit-ins, and celebrating the resignation of Mubarak. He died after the revolution, slain at a football match in Port Said. Another tale was of the granddaughter of an Azharite sheikh who had played a role in the 1919 Revolution, and who invoked the memories of her revolutionary family during the January 2011 protests. The songs of Ahmad Fouad Negm (born 1929) and Sheikh Imam (1918 �ê" 1995) set off the performances, a befitting choice since these songs were not only featured heavily in the 1970s protests but performed again by the 2011 protestors. The stories were all about the first days of the revolution and the repercussions that followed, especially the clashes on the streets of Mohammad Mahmoud and in the provisional cabinet. The author and raconteur Sahar El-Mogi invoked the story of the young woman who was dragged in the street half naked, blending it with the tale of the Azharite Sheikh's granddaughter. Simply So (Bebasata Keda) was produced by the theatrical company Warsha. The writers and performers included veterans such as Sahar El-Mogi, Khaled El-Khamisi and Makkawi Said, as well as young talents including Amira El-Noshuquati, Samar Ali, Zeinab Magdi, Mohamed Raouf and Maryam El-Naqr. The austere setting by director Reem Hatem resonated with the tradition of oral history, where the raconteur performed without a theatrical set and with a minimum of special effects. The occasional use of a shadow screen injected vitality into the show, and Iman Salaheddin's live performance of Sheikh Imam's songs brought lyrical enchantment to the event. Such cultural events are badly needed to preserve the collective memory of the 25 January Revolution now that other political forces, namely the Muslim Brotherhood, are doing their best to wipe it out.
