Exit from Paradise

Author: Tawfiq al-Hakim

We were talking about the state of theaters in Egypt when Mr. Tawfiq al-Hakim told me that he envisioned dedicating the National Theater to presenting the heritage of Egyptian theater throughout the year, so that this heritage would remain alive and present. Just as museums preserve historical artifacts, the National Theater should preserve theatrical artifacts. Years passed, Tawfiq al-Hakim passed away, and the problem became not only the failure to keep his theatrical heritage alive on stage, but also its unavailability even as a printed text. A former Arab Minister of Culture complained to me that he searched libraries during his visit to Cairo for several of al-Hakim's plays to complete his collection, but was told that they were out of print and had not been reprinted for years. Hence, my delight in Dar Al-Shorouk's project to re-publish the complete works of the father of Arab theater, Tawfiq al-Hakim, for nations do not grow or prosper unless their heritage is present in their present, otherwise their عقد would unravel and they would lose both their past and future, in history and politics as in literature and arts. Mohamed Salmawy