Egyptian playwright and scriptwriter Mahmoud El-Toukhy died in the early hours of Wednesday, his wife Ghada Hussein Moussa revealed on her Facebook page. The funeral took place on Wednesday mid-day.

Born in 1945, El-Toukhy is considered one of the most prominent writers of his generation.

He wrote for theatre, excelling in the political satire genre. He also wrote comic sripts for film and television.

Following his graduation from the English Literature Department at Ain Shams University, El-Toukhy settled in Aswan where he contributed to the creation of an amateur theatre troupe. He then continued his studies at the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts, Acting and Directing Department.

El-Toukhy travelled to Syria where he worked with theatre companies while writing plays considered the first political cabarets in the Arab world.

Between 1972 and 1986, he travelled to London where he was strongly involved in theatre. He also worked for the BBC Arabic radio channel, providing scripts and presenting programmes. His involvement with the media included also working for a Lebanese magazine.

It was upon his return to Egypt in 1986 that El-Toukhy started writing for film and television professionally while continuing his journey in playwriting.

Among his well known plays is Dstoor Ya Asyadna which was staged in 1995, directed by Galal El-Sharkawy and featuring Ahmed Bedir, Khalil Morsy, Hanan Shawki, Fotouh Ahmed, and Ahmed Fouad Selim.

In 1994, he wrote and directed a play titled Bokra (Tomorrow).

Other theatre plays include Me and My Girlfriend (1999), The Beautiful and the Andalusian (2003), A Story of Good People (2008) and the well known Coma (Ghaybouba, 2015) directed by Shady Sorour and starring Ahmed Bedeir, Mohamed El-Sawy, Fatma El-Kashef, among others.

In the final weeks of his life, El-Toukhy was preparing for the staging of a play that he wrote most recently, titled There Was a Woman. Famed actress Samiha Ayoub was already cast as the protagonist.

El-Toukhy's contribtions to scriptwriting include numerous television series with the most recent ones being Life of a Modern-day Husband (2003), Profession: Doctor (2004), Days of Love and Mischief (2010), and Girls x Girls (2012).

While predominantly active in theatre, El-Toukhy had also a number of film scripts to his name, such as The Despicable (1986) and Malevolence of a Woman (1987).
 

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