This is neither a tale from One Thousand and One Nights nor a fable from Kalila and Dimna. There’s no “Once upon a time,” and no point digging through old storybooks to find its origins.
Thirty-six actors from the Actor Studio Theatre Company take us through what seem to be very ordinary daily-life stories—hence the play's title, Hawadeet (Tales).
During the prologue, the actors form a semicircle. On the sides of the stage, excerpts from comic books and children's literature are displayed. In the background, curtains are adorned with Arabic calligraphy. The set, designed by Mohamed El-Gharabawi, reflects the themes of storytelling, evoking both ancient and contemporary tales.
Director Khaled Galal joins the actors on stage to briefly introduce the story of his studio, launched in 2002. He then invites us into the world of Scheherazade. But she soon fades into the background, making way for the voices of our own era’s storytellers.
A Ceremonial Theatre
The arrangement of the actors reflects what Moroccan playwright Abdelkerim Berrechid describes as ihtifaly (ceremonial) theatre.
This is a fundamental and ancient form of Arab cultural expression, characterized by its intimacy and the audience’s active involvement. It resembles a gathering, a celebration, or a ritual, where everyone is welcome to participate in the storytelling and share memories.
From the start, the premise of the performance is clear: it’s a session of confessions, using a variety of storytelling techniques. There’s theatre within theatre. The studio students have their own stories to share, opening up to the audience with their worries, sorrows, and joys.
From one scene to the next, adopting a Brechtian style, Galal breaks the illusion. All the stories are drawn from everyday life. The actors make us laugh, cry, and reflect on ourselves and on life.
A Human Touch
The show unfolds as a series of stories, woven and improvised by the young actors themselves during their training. Galal selects the material, guides the performers, and sets the rhythm of the play. The scenes follow one another with speed and energy, the actors performing with brilliance, and the endings often taking unexpected turns.
It’s simple: a spotlight comes on, and an actress speaks out in a clear voice:
"I have a story that goes back to my childhood, in my home village. Bahr, the madman, waited anxiously by the Nile for his beloved. But she drowned. Shocked, he lost his mind; every day, he calls out for her, but she never returns."
The narrator introduces this first story, and then the sequence of events unfolds. The narrator becomes Bahr’s beloved, but in the following story, she appears as a completely different character: a social media influencer visiting her old mentor and inviting him to participate in her new show.
He resists her temptations. Angrily, she reminds him she hasn’t forgotten his old teachings and begins to recite a monologue in classical Arabic, taken from one of the literary masterpieces.
Some scenes delve into dark humour, like the one featuring a pizza delivery. An impoverished family mistakenly receives a pizza they never ordered. The scene uses slow motion and pulsating music to highlight the family’s feeling of victory. The deliveryman takes pity on them and leaves them the pizza. Everything in this scene is exaggerated: the music, the slow motion, the girls' ravenous delight.
Then, without transition, we shift to a story about a couple. A woman is bound by strings, resembling a puppet. Her partner holds the strings. Wounded in her arms, she eventually rebels.
A rap song then leads us into a tale about a jinn who is supposed to grant a grieving man’s wishes. The jinn emerges from an old lamp to the sound of modern pop music, and the man’s wishes come true with a snap of the fingers. He wishes to go back in time and bring his parents back to life. The loss of loved ones is always painful.
Through different storytelling methods, the play explores the alienation of life, its ups and downs. Human stories never end. Every day, they are renewed.
Story of Hawadeet
Hawadeet is written and directed by Khaled Galal as part of the graduation project of the third class—the “Aly Fayez class”—of the Actor Studio Theatre Company, a body founded by Galal at the Cairo Creativity Centre (affiliated with the Cultural Development Fund), which he also manages.
The play represents a professional training model established by the Centre to prepare a new generation of actors through a comprehensive theatrical experience.
The play premiered in June 2025 and continues to be performed daily, except on Wednesdays and Sundays. Viewers are advised to contact the Creativity Centre before booking tickets.
Most recently, Hawadeet took part in the official competition of the 18th Egyptian National Theatre Festival (July–August 2025), winning the Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Performance.
It was also performed during the first edition of the Port Said Film Festival (18–22 September 2025).
*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Hebdo (in French) on 17 September 2025. Translation and additional edit: Ahram Online
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