Massareh wa Malahi Al-Qahira Al-Khediwayah Bayna Montassafay Al-Qarn Al-Tassa’ashr wal Qarn Al-Eshrine (Theatres and Nightclubs of Khedivial Cairo between mid-19th and -20th centuries) by Adel Seif, El-Maraya, pp 208
This book is a sequel of delightful and generally brief journeys down the alleys of the history of entertainment and art in Egypt. Each journey is converted into a mini profile, with photos, maps, and references, of one of some lead 40 plus theatres and nightclubs that contributed to the evolution of music, dance, and acting performances in Egypt between the mid-19th and the 20th centuries when some of the very first entertainment zones were introduced, mostly in the zone of Today’s Attaba Square.
The book’s author states directly in his introduction that this volume, based on extensive research, is not about specific artists. However, inevitably, Seif offers much insight into the history and role of top artists, both Egyptians and Arabs, who came to Egypt at the 100 years he is addressing. It is particularly hard to miss the names and contributions of early 20th-century celebrities, such as Naguib Rihani, Badia’ Massabni, and Salama Hegazi. Ultimately, it is impossible to talk of Nozhet Al-Nofous Café without writing about the history of Mounira Al-Mahdiya, Egypt’s pre-Oum Kalthoum top singer.
It might not have been intended, but Seif’s book is not just about the rise and fall of theatres and nightclubs but also about the rise and fall of divas of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the evolution of art performances along the line with the movement of social mobility and embracement of non-traditional social norms.
Seif divides his selected 43 theatres and nightclubs, out of a much bigger number of art and entertainment halls of the time, into four groups. The division, he wrote, is strictly designed on dates and maps.
In his first group, Seif refers to the theatres and nightclubs of Attaba. References included Eldorado, which started as a space for European art before being taken over by Egyptian artists who allowed for the evolution of belly dance in terms of style. Eldorado, Seif wrote, allowed belly dance to move beyond its traditional season-and-occasion-based performance into an entertainment function that people get dressed up to attend.
Within the first group, there is also a reference to El-Azbakeya Theatre, originally established by Khedive Ismail, who ruled Egypt between 1863 and 1879. According to the book, the expanding space for performing troops encouraged an art company, which was established by lead 20th-century Egyptian economist Talaat Harb, to rebuild the old theatre that fell into big disrepair and reopen it in 1920 to be a place for performances associated with the top troops and performers of the time, including Sayyed Darwish and Oum Kalthoum.
Today, this is precisely the venue of Al-Masrah Al-Qawmi (The National Theatre).
The second segment in Seif’s book is dedicated to the most famous theatres and nightclubs of Emadeldine Street that saw the rise of the uncontested divas of the 20th century, including Tahiya Karioka, who ‘graduated’ from the Badia’ Massabni Casino. This segment, in particular, shows the role that was played by the European business people in launching new theatres and nightclubs – and who the lead Egyptian artists eventually took over. The book follows the ‘survival’ of some of the buildings of this particular group into more modern functions, including cinema theatres, as the transfer of the Majestic Theatre into Cinema Pigalle.
Seif’s third group of selected theatres and nightclubs in the zone of Fouad/Al-Alfi Streets and the fourth and final group that follow the history of theatres and nightclubs elsewhere in the city depict the evolution of the entertainment business towards the end of the third decade of the 20th century with more separating lines between a nightclub and theatre. It also depicts the evolution and diversity of theatre performances.
These two groups contextualize the evolution of the art movement within the political developments of the time, including World War II and beyond. They also relate the impact of a thriving cinema industry, which allowed for a star-making age, on the nightlife in the heart of Khedivial Cairo.
Seif’s book is as entertaining and anecdotal as it is informative. As he promised in the introduction, it goes beyond archival research to paint a picture of changing social norms and a thriving entertainment industry.
Salama Moussa wa Odaba’e Assroh – Ketab Maghoul (Salama Moussa and the Literary Figures of His Time – A Book Recalled) by Robert Al-Fares, Rawafed, pp 215
Salama Moussa was a writer and intellectual of the early to middle 20th century. He was also one of the country’s leading socialist political theorists. Born to a Coptic family in 1887, Moussa produced 40 volumes that promoted progressive thoughts of the time, social justice, and women’s emancipation.
However, in a unique collection of long-overlooked articles, Robert Al-Fares, a journalist and author, added a ‘new volume’ to the works of this intellectual who passed away in 1958. These articles, as Al-Fares noted in the introduction to his book, were originally serialized in the 1920s in Al-Helal Magazine. The first article was dedicated to Moustafa Loutfy Al-Manfalouti, an Egyptian writer and poet who lived between 1872 and 1924, and the last article was to Ahmed Shawaki, Egypt’s prominent poet who lived between 1868 and 1932.
Other authors included in this series, which Salama started in November 1923 until July 1924, include top intellectuals and writers who impacted the Egyptian intellectual scene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like Abbas Mahmoud Al-Akkad and Taha Hussein.
According to the book, this series of articles was usually the starting point of an intellectual debate over the concepts of modernization and heritage, in social values as well as the standards of art and literature.
At one level, there are legitimate articles of literary criticism – examining the style and language of poets and novelists. However, at another level, these are articles that decry the failure of some to look forward “as they continue to keep their eyes at the back not the front of their heads.”
Beyond its literary and political value, this book is an overdue tribute to an often-underestimated writer, not just to a set of overlooked articles. The book also reflects the intellectual debates that dominated Egypt's post-1919 Revolution moment. It shows great diversity in views, especially between those who went to Europe for university degrees and those who did not.
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