273_hennessey_1 MER Article Explosions and Ill Omens On October 9, 2014, a suicide bomber detonated himself in central Sanaa, killing dozens of innocent people. Upon reading the news coverage of this terrible event my thoughts leapt back to a series of plays that I had seen performed in Sanaa in the spring. Most of these performances took place under Katherine Hennessey • 13 min read
MER Article Drama in Yemen On May 11, 2013, armed tribesmen stormed the Cultural Center in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, demanding that the activity in progress immediately cease. A minister of the Yemeni government was whisked away by underlings from his front-row seat and out a side door; the assembled crowd quickly disperse Katherine Hennessey • 12 min read
MER Article Culture, State and Revolution The Arab uprisings have brought major challenges, as well as unprecedented opportunities, to the culture industries. According to a flurry of celebratory news articles from the spring of 2011 onward, protest art is proliferating in the region, from graffiti in Egypt to hip-hop in Morocco to massive Sonali Pahwa, Jessica Winegar • 15 min read
Current Analysis Anthony Shadid, 1968-2012 We at MERIP are shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of Anthony Shadid, an extraordinary reporter, wondrously talented writer, judicious analyst of Middle East affairs, warm, generous person and good friend. In between sojourns in the Middle East, Anthony served on our editorial committee from 2 Chris Toensing • 6 min read
MER Article Daring Theater Offers Respite from Baghdad’s Misery Soon after the tattered curtains part in Baghdad’s Sheherezad Theater, a boisterous Baghdad comes to the fore. The frenzied strains of an Iraqi pop song herald the appearance of a cross-dressing belly dancer, seductively clad women and a wiggling and jiggling government official, and suggest the pr Anthony Shadid • 5 min read
MER Article Theater and the Thirst for Dialogue Born in 1941 in a village overlooking the Mediterranean just above the port city of Tartous, Syria, Saadallah Wannous attended local schools until the age of 18 when he was awarded a scholarship to study journalism at Cairo University. He later attended the Theater of Nations in Paris. Saadallah Wannous • 5 min read
MER Article A Woman's Life on an Algiers Stage Algeria’s Islamist challenge to secularism and the populist revulsion against the corruption of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) form the background to “Fatma”, a one-woman show which premiered May 23, 1990, at the El-Mouggar theater in Algiers. “Fatma’’ recounts a day in the life of an Al Susan Slyomovics • 4 min read
