In one of the buildings in Qasr El-Nil street, where the walls are defaced by many company and store signs with glaring colours and neon lights, a brass name-plate states, in genuine Arabic calligraphy, “The Office of Mahmoud Reda”.
Mahmoud Reda is (...)
The Aragoz, joyful forever
Runs in a thousand alleys
Through thousands of squares
He has no known address
But a card or two up his sleeve
A stick sharper than a tongue
A club to back it all
He keeps it all aside, just in case
...
While at it
You (...)
I often saw him with poet Abdel Rahman Al-Abnoudi. Like an ancient poet, he plays the two-string violin called the rababa and sings. The words are his, and yet they are older than himself, for the Sira Helaleyaa is an accumulative work, adapted by (...)
We are mere acolytes
The Sira is a book and an amulet
A record and a password
A forest and a flower
Its quatrains like squares
With circles in the middle
Running forever like a Bedouin desert
With embers burning under the sand
Where the storyteller (...)
Recent preparations in the buildup to the first anniversary of the January 25 Revolution raise questions about whether celebrating martyrdom is an integral part of Egyptian heritage. Folk and oral history experts say there are no parallels to be (...)
Nagi Shaker, chief designer for Al-Leila Al-Kebira, Cairo's iconic marionette theatre musical of the 1960s, speaks to Doaa Hamza about his life and work.
Ahram Online: How did it all start?
Nagi Shaker:My love for cinema started at an early age. Our (...)
Ramadan Khater was a born storyteller. When he spoke, reality became magic, fiction became fact, and everyone listening was entranced. The witty stories he told and retold made us laugh and want to hear more. A wonderful impersonator, he could (...)
Born out of the spirit of resistance, the popular Tanboura troupe keeps alive those old tunes once heard all over Port Said, Suez and Ismailia during the War of Attrition and the 1973 war. Although some of the new songs were written especially for (...)
In a night that mixed zikr (a Sufi ritual in remembrance of God's grace) circles with madih (chants praising the prophet Mohammed), the Dervishes of Abul Gheit gave their first performance in Al Tanboura Hall at the El Mastaba Centre for Egyptian (...)
Leaving the busy streets of Cairo behind, turn into the now-pedestrianised al-Moezz Street in Al-Azhar. Start walking north, past the incense and jewellery shops, till you reach the copper makers' section of the street. There, the locals can direct (...)
“Look, watch the youth corner row after row, whistles of objections from the youth corner in cinemas. The youth corner has thousands of young men objecting to the authority of fathers and kings. Watch them lest you remember….”
As a child, Salah (...)
One of the most compelling changes that has affected the art scene since the advent of the 25 January uprising is its evident spontaneity. The sudden outburst of long-suppressed creativity has made art available to everyone on corners, on walls and (...)
Al Tahrir Square witnessed a state of creativity where numerous artistic trends evolved, when all the cultural centres in Cairo were closed. Only a few days ago these centres, especially those privately-owned, resumed their artistic activities with (...)
With the musicians behind him, he owns the stage, determined to interact and communicate with the audience through his expressive voice and satirical lyrics that ridicule society, in the most hilarious way.
The performance of a monologue has (...)
"A choir of complaints
And it is not prohibited
The sound may not be great
Nor is it inhibited
Entry is free
It is for you and me
To say what we want”
With these words, the concert featuring the "Choir project” concluded its (...)
Mohema Rasmya,(Official Assignment)and Sid Al Ahlam,(Fishig for Dreams) are enchanting performances of puppets, shadow puppeteers, black theatre, story-telling and a mix of live acting with puppets, directed by Mohamed Fawzi
While heading towards (...)
In one of the buildings in Qasr El-Nil street, where the walls are defaced by many company and store signs with glaring colours and neon lights, a brass name-plate states, in genuine Arabic calligraphy, “The Office of Mahmoud Reda”.
Mahmoud Reda (...)