A Party for Boris (2002)

is a play by Thomas Bernhard. It was produced by Al Hanager Art center in 2002 for the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theater (CIFET), directed by Mohsen Helmi and based upon a translation by Dr. Ahmad Sakhsoukh with a cast led by Raghda. We performed twice for the festival, then the run was stopped. When the time was ripe to restart our run, Raghda had gone to Iraq with a delegation of Arab intellectuals that went to witness the last days of the undemocratic regime. Actually, they were trying to be human shields in defense of the Iraqi people. The play was resumed with another "grande dame" of acting, Poussy, which involved a few changes in the set and the costumes.

During rehearsals somehow inspired or maybe disturbed by both the play and the political context I was sketching (see below). What else could I do against the obvious need the western world had to unstock their pile of arms that were becoming near obsolete and that they had to use ? Nothing. Nobody was ready to listen. Most Western deciders "believed" actually "knew" of the existence of the famous WMDs. What could anyone do?

Nowadays,

It seems to me they did not use enough of the piled stocks of arms they have against Iraq and want to enlarge the conflict even more so that they can write off the debts incurred while producing those stocks. Iran, Syria and Lebanon seem to me to be likely candidates for the wrath of the masters of the world and for nice juicy rebuilding schemes.

We have a beautiful Egyptian saying it goes "Rabena Yostor"




If you would like to see them as a slideshow then here it is