Masks, fabrics and destinies

Masks, fabrics and destinies

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The second day of a two-day performance by the El Hanager theater
company, as part of Art Summit Indonesia 2004, will be staged on
Wednesday at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central
Jakarta.

Aqnea, Aqmesha, wa Massaer (Masks, Fabrics and Destinies) is a
piece written by Kassem Muhammad, an expatriate Iraqi artist
living in the United Arab Emirates and directed by
HaniEl-Mettenawi. This production, which is filled with young
actors, is a refreshing burst of life and full of ideas.

Previously, Hani El-Mettenawy also directed Mohamed Abul-
Seoud's Meta-Phaedra which represented Egypt in CIFET (Cairo
International Festival for Experimental Theatre) 2001. Aqnea
Aqmesha wa Massaer was presented at the 15th Egyptian
International Experimental Theater Festival in 2003.

The performance was chosen to represent Egypt in the festival,
alongside festival icon Walid Aouni. The wisdom of the selection
committee was proven when Aqnea, Aqmesha wa Massaer won the award
for best ensemble piece.

The world is projected as an endless dark tunnel, one big
prison, one mass grave, and a deadly game of chess-cum-gory
battlefield inhabited by monstrous, warring creatures, half-
human, half-beast. In the world, time has been annulled, love
perishes, innocence goes blind and women give birth astride the
grave.

The force of the imagery is enhanced by the vocal composition,
which is equally intricate and evocative. Whether the actors
hiss, whisper, hum and chant, or groan, lament and scream, it is
invariably according to a careful calculated pattern of sound and
silences and in the rhythm with Abu Bakr El-Sherif's music and
drums.

The play is an outstanding example for the dramatic potential
of the struggle of peace and war. While this is not a war saga,
it sums up the history of mankind by elaborating the themes of
war and peace in some very creative ways.

The story begins in the darkness on the stage, with one
spotlight focused on an imaginary-like figure, who almost appears
to be suspended from a high ceiling. A woman's voice is heard
warning people of the fate they will face as a result of their
weakness and greed.

After a beautiful and poetic monologue, Teiresias, the world's
oldest seer -- present when Oedipus tried to escape destiny, not
realizing that he was running straight into it -- takes the
stage.

Initially in the story, Kassem focussed on Iraq, the
destruction and massive loss of life it has suffered in two
successive wars and the rule of terror that paved the way for
both of them. During rehearsals, however, the author and
director, Hani El-Mettenawi, decided to expand the scope of the
work.

"We thought it would be better to transform it into a general
condemnation of the power/blood lust that has bedeviled humanity
since the beginning of creation," Hani said.