CAIRO - It was his passion of arts that prompted him to leave everything and follow his dream. John Milad, a 34-year-old independent theatre artist who writes, directs and acts plays, is, unlike many people, a man with a message. He graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in 2001 and then worked for an advertising company as a graphic designer for five years, before throwing it all up to devote himself to his art and his message. Milad founded an artistic troupe called ‘Wa Lessa' (There are More), whose performances mainly deal with the idea of human rights and freedoms. Since the revolution, he has also been presenting plays tackling political issues, such as ‘Skoot Hanswat' (Be quiet, We're going to Vote). He and his troupe have toured almost every governorate in the country with this play, in order to make humble people in remote areas more aware of the electoral process and the fact that they should think carefully before choosing their nominees. 'Skoot Hanswat' is about a bus that represents Egypt with its people of every social class and religious background. The bus breaks down and they realise that they must find a way to work together. “It is very important for art to deliver a particular message, a message that humble people can appreciate. “People love my play. Many women cried when the revolutionary martyrs were remembered and they joined the actors on stage for the last scene, chanting together against corruption,” Milad told the Egyptian Mail. His passion of theatre started when he began acting in preparatory school in Fayyoum City. He then carried on acting in secondary school. In his first year at university, he founded a theatre troupe called ‘Soul and Life', affiliated to a civil organisation in Fayyoum. Many of teenage children and adults joined it. “I held many workshops to teach the troupe how to write and act. I also had to find plays for both teenagers and adults, which was difficult,” Milad explained. He has gained a lot of experience from the many workshops in which he's participated, both in Egypt and abroad, focusing not just on art but also on human rights. He has really benefited from a performance workshop in Mahmoud Mokhtar Museum, a scenographic workshop with Fadi Fokeeh, a workshop with Gawad el-Asadi in el-Hanager Centre, and a workshop for arts and religion conversation held by el-Gesr Organisation. He has similarly benefited from an environmental rights workshop in the Hathoor Centre, a liberalism workshop, a choreography workshop in Tunisia, and a drama and freedom workshop in France. He has also been trained by UNICEF in Sudan in defending freedoms. “The world today is using art to effect change and to regain freedoms. I think that this is the way for Egypt to change, especially as education is so poor here and the only way is to penetrate people's feelings by art, so change will happen,” Milad said. After doing all these workshops, he has now started to hold his own workshops to spread his message and so people can benefit from his experience. One of his workshops, ‘Human Rights via Art', was held in el-Takeaba Centre. He has also travelled with UNICEF to Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia to train children there how to tell stories, act, dance, write and draw. Milad has also held a workshop in Alexandria for training the disabled and handicapped to express their needs with their body, not only using sign language. “I always try to spread the idea of freedom and non-discrimination, in terms of religion, ideas and colours,” he explained. One of the most impressive plays produced by Milad's troupe is ‘El-Sofara' (The Whistle), that tells the story of a humble rural traffic policeman who gets a fortnight's holiday. The play revolves around the last 15 minutes of his holiday, before he goes back to work, as he reviews all the negative things that have been happening in the Egyptian street. “At the end of each performance of this play, I give the audience whistles and tell them to whistle when they spot a violation, as a way of saying no. “I have performed this play more than 30 times, not just in Egypt but in other countries too,” Milad added. He has already started work on another dream of his ��" founding a huge organisation to produce plays and other art, and also to train trainers, families and people who deal with children and teenagers. The purpose is for them to change society by means of art and psychology, teaching them how to get the individual to know and accept himself, so he can deal with others without any psychological complications.
