The Levant House pavilion at the Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) 2025 witnessed the signing ceremony of the book From the Qatari Theatre by Saud Ali al-Shammari.
The book includes two theatrical texts, Lafeef and Ibn Maskeen.
Al-Shammari said on the sidelines of the signing ceremony that this work is part of a series that he started in 2018 to document theatre scene in Qatar.
"This is the second book in the series, and it contains two theatrical texts, Lafeef is a new text, while Ibn Maskeen was inspired by the idea of the book Inspiration of the Pen,” he said. “The challenge for me was to transform the story into a dramatic theatrical text that can be performed on stage."
“The text of Lafif revolves around an 80-year-old man who falls into a coma, and when he wakes up, he recalls his memories and reviews his entire life,” al-Shammari said. “Ibn Maskeen deals with a story inspired by Arabic literature, in an artistic experiment in an attempt to transform classical texts into a lively theatrical work."
Theatre critic Dr Hassan Rashid, who wrote the introduction to the book, said: “I consider Saud al-Shammari my ‘son’, and my role as a critic is to support all young creators in Qatar, to prove that our country is not only an oil country, but has creative energies that communicate with thought and culture.”
“This work delves into Islamic history and reflects the identity of Qatari theatre,” he added.
Rashid stressed that al-Shammari’s participation in the CIBF 2025 is an important opportunity to present his creativity to a wide audience, considering that the exhibition represents a cultural platform of great value in the Arab world.
Saud Ali al-Shammari
