Minister praises performance of the play ‘Al Asma’i Baquh’

HE Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Thani, Minister of Culture, attended yesterday a performance of the play Al-Asma’i Baqwa at the Katara Drama Theater, which was held in conjunction with the ongoing Doha International Book Fair 2022. HE the Minister continues to support the cultural activities in the State of Qatar. Among the dignitaries who viewed the stage show was Gulf Times Editor-in-Chief Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka.

In the presence of HE Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Thani, Minister of Culture, the first performances of the play “Al-Asma’i Baquh”, presented by the Ministry of Culture as part of the Doha Book Fair, were launched yesterday evening at the Drama Theater of the Cultural Village (Katara). At the end of the show, HE the Minister met with the artists and expressed his happiness with their performance and the efforts they made, stressing his confidence in them, and praising the effort of each element of the work, whether it was the director or his assistant, or the actors who entertained the audience, in addition to the text that was consistent with the book fair’s slogan and message. The play was staged in adherence to the preventive measures imposed by the health authorities. The new play, which is the starting point for the theatrical season, is written by Abdel Rahim Al Seddiqi and Tayseer Abdullah and directed by Saad Burshid.   Ibrahim Lari is the assistant director. A selection of Qatari theater artists, including Ghazi Hussein, Hediya Saeed are among the cast. Nasser al-Momen, in addition to a group of well-known actors including Shuail al-Kuwari, Mohammed al-Sayegh, Salem al-Mansoori, Khaled Khamis, Khaled Rabea, Ali al-Khalaf, and Ali Al-Sharshni. The other artists were  Munther Thani, Heba Lotfi, Khaled al-Hamidi and Zina and Amira Yasser. The play includes lyrical presentation of the Arab heritage. The play recalls the famous incident related to the well-known Al-Asma’i poem “Sawt Safir Al-Bulbul” to raise a very important contemporary issue related to copyright and the need to protect it. It also draws attention to the issue of Arab brain drain. At the end of the play, Al-Asma’i decides to migrate to the West in search of a homeland and broader horizons. At the conclusion of the show, the next time is presented, led by Qatar, as the homeland of freedom and tolerance and the meeting place of world cultures, and as an oasis of security and safety and an incubator of Arab and global creativity. Writer Abdel Rahim Al Seddiqi, Director of the Theater Affairs Center, expressed his happiness at presenting the play as part of the Doha International Book Fair, noting that it is the first time that the Qatari theater has participated in a huge theatrical work within the activities of the ancient exhibition, in which the Theater Affairs Center is also participating this year with a number of puppet plays. For his part, the writer Tayseer Abdullah explained that the work is written in the simplified classical Arabic inlaid with the modern Qatari colloquial dialect, and said that the play reveals the problem of distance from the book and reading. At the end of the show, HE Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Hamad al-Thani met with the work crew, and expressed his happiness with the performance and effort they made, stressing his confidence in them, and praising the effort of each element of the work, whether it was the director or his assistant, or the actors who dazzled the audience with their performance, in addition to the text that It was consistent with the book fair’s slogan and message.