Mohamed el-Gheity’s Ward al-Ganāʾ in or The Rose Garden

Extract

In the more than two years that have passed since the “post-Mubarak” era began, few plays have directly addressed the revolution that began in Egypt on 25 January 2011. A signifi cant exception among others is Mohamed el- Gheity’s Ward al-Ganāʾin or The Rose Garden (2011). Such plays have generally been commercially successful. Many Egyptians now think of themselves as revolutionaries; in the fi rst years of the Arab Spring, they liked to see revolution everywhere—in the streets, theater, newspapers, television—anywhere. Such responses from the public in turn upset the government, which often tries to stop such performances, and to allow only those theatrical entertainments that do not tackle political issues directly.