Theatre
The People of the Cave
أهل الكهف
Tawfiq al-Hakim · 1933
Synopsis
Fleeing the persecution of a pagan king, three Christians, Mishlinya, Marnush and the shepherd Yamlikha, have taken refuge in a cave with their dog. They wake there famished, believing they have slept only a day, and Yamlikha goes down to the city to find food. They discover that three hundred years have passed, that the city has become Christian and that their loved ones have long been dead. Mishlinya falls in love with Prisca, a descendant of the fiancée he had left behind, who begins by rejecting him.
Context
The play appeared in 1933. It takes up the legend of the seven sleepers of Ephesus, which the Quran relates, but, according to HowlRound, places the emphasis on the mortal condition and on a love that defies time rather than on the theological lesson of the sacred text. Hailed in literary circles as a landmark of Egyptian theatre, according to The Paris Review, it disappointed the public: its staging at the National Theatre in 1935, directed by Zaki Tulaymat, was a failure, and Taha Hussein judged it unsuited to the stage. A revival in 1960, directed by Nabil al-Alfi, was better received.
Who it is for
A philosophical drama that its critics describe as better suited to reading than to the stage; translated into English, no French version found.
Prizes and reception
Praised by critics as a milestone of Arab theatre, despite the failure of its first performances.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.