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| Middle East |
| Egyptian Satire Taps the Feelings of the Arab Street |
| 2004-01-22 |
| EFL from LA Times - this almost reads like an example of free expression in an Arab country. Must just be a bad translation. Cairo: "Mama America" first opened here in 1991, running for five years and touring the Arab world before closing. But in the fall, as time seemed to have doubled on itself with another Palestinian intifada, another U.S. invasion of Iraq and anti-Americanism coursing through the region once again, Sobhi brought his play back to Cairo. This time, the finale, in which U.S. policemen round up baffled Arab tourists after a massive terror attack in New York, no longer seems a flight of fancy. "In 1991, blowing up the Statue of Liberty was a symbolic gesture," Sobhi said. "But I could see it then — after the destruction of communism, the next threat would be Islam." You were probably OK until you attacked NY for the 2nd time. Egyptian playwright Mohammed Sobhi has wrought this anthropomorphic world in his newly revived satire, "Mama America." The play is a sensation, packing in the weary workers of Cairo even now, when the economy is so rotten that many people couldn’t afford to buy meat for Ramadan feasts. Still, they fill the darkness, babies in their laps, and turn their faces upward to soak up the parody. This is how the world looks from a drafty playhouse in the downtown caverns of this capital: America is a simpering, conniving matron in silly hats. Israel is her cousin, lurking maliciously around the edges of the action. Arabs are a fractious and dysfunctional clan, sickly, spaced out and self-involved. Pretty subtle Then there’s the sorry spectacle of Egypt, a heavy-hearted man torn between his bickering brethren and the possibility of salvaging his family’s ancestral lands by marrying America. He also drew international headlines and the ire of Israel and the United States with a soap opera he produced last year, "Horseman Without a Horse." The show alluded to the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a notorious anti-Semitic tract. Egyptians criticized the program, too, but for different reasons. Many complained that it made for dull television... Sobhi’s Egypt marries Mama America, believing he can get the better of her. Instead, he is cooped up in her mansion and drugged into a stupor. Bit by bit, he forgets who he is. Sobhi’s script exclaims to America, "Your crimes are too obvious now, and we won’t be quiet. To hell with the day I didn’t listen to my father and followed you." I guess you can take or leave our $2B - I’d just as soon see the cash put to constructive use someplace else. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #3 Egypt, Mamma "Bobbit" America should cut off your... allowance. |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-1-22 2:30:12 PM |
| #2 Sobhi’s Egypt marries Mama America, believing he can get the better of her This really is an accurate portrayal of the arab mind -- fantasies of superiority. Yet, even in fiction, "Egypt" doesn't get the better of her, yet blames "America" for it. "Art" (if that's what it is) resembles life. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-1-22 2:21:33 PM |
| #1 Sobhi’s Egypt marries Mama America, believing he can get the better of her. Instead, he is cooped up in her mansion and drugged into a stupor. Bit by bit, he forgets who he is. So there's a happy ending? |
| Posted by: Proud To Be An Infidel 2004-1-22 1:47:38 PM |