RIYADH, 28 March 2008 — When asked about theater, the first thing that comes to the minds of most Saudis is comedy. But most plays presented at the Fourth Saudi Drama Festival that went on for two weeks and ended yesterday offered little or no comedy at all.

The Theater Club of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals put on “Mamnoua’ Al-Ekterab”, a show that began with the lead actor hidden under a white blanket on a darkened stage. As melodramatic music started to fill the hall, the spotlight moved to the actor’s place and the audience watched him emerge slowly out of the white blanket moving his body like a swimmer in the air.

He took tentative steps, gawking in different directions, before walking to a chair at the center of the stage and sitting down. Over-excitedly, he then recited some old Arabic poetry. Later, he futilely tried to pull a rope held by a silent actor garbed in black from head to toe. The show went on for 45 minutes symbolizing a trial from a different era and the powers that controlled it.

Another play, “The Glass Cube” by the Qassim Drama Group was more of a musical with the lead actor holding his Oud and singing to describe the struggle of the six characters, three humans and three animals. Their faces were hidden behind masks in a zombie-like fashion because they had lost their lives when Earth was taken over by aliens. They needed water to regain life. In the last scene, a projector shows a clip of animated cartoons showing aliens fighting each other and losing their authority over Earth to the happiness of humans and animals chanting their victory song.

Auditorium B at the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh was nearly full during the shows, with directors, actors and theater enthusiasts from all over the Kingdom and other Arab countries watching with keen interest what the drama groups from different regions in the country had to offer.

The few women who attended the shows were seated at the upper deck of the auditorium, out of sight of the male audience members downstairs but within view of the actors on stage.

A discussion panel featuring the director and playwright followed every play, and attendees had a chance to voice their opinions about the shows. Critics and dramatists from Saudi Arabia did not hesitate to offer harsh criticism regarding stage design, lighting and sound effects, but most of them were impressed by the performance and energy of the young actors, but they also pointed out to weaknesses and mistakes.

Some directors welcomed the criticism but they defended themselves by saying everything they know about drama was self-taught. Drama is not taught in schools and universities in the Kingdom, and the only drama department in the country, at King Saud University, has been shut down years ago. All of these groups present at the festival depend on individual efforts from theater enthusiasts who believe in the importance of this art form that is considered the origin of all performance arts.

Jubran Al-Jubran was at the receiving end of what seemed like fierce criticism after the end of his play “Mamnoua’ Al-Ekterab.” He listened patiently to the remarks and questions of critics, writing down some notes and smiling sparingly. “I don’t see the point of these discussion panels after every play,” he later told me.

Al-Jubran, a director and one of the pioneers in the Saudi drama scene, says he does not reject criticism but rather thinks that many issues the critics raised were irrelevant because they are disconnected from the reality of Saudi drama.

For example, he was told that his play would not be understood and enjoyed by the general public. But Jubran says that the general audience was not the target of a festival like this.

The festival has been previously organized at three universities — in 1996, 1998 and 2000 — before it came to a halt after the Saudi Society for Culture and Arts proclaimed that they would be organizing the fourth festival. They announced a date but later delayed it one time after another, and it was almost forgotten until the Ministry of Information and Culture decided to revive the festival eight years later.

As Arab News reported last week, women’s participation at this year’s festival was limited to the audience seats. Only a handful of them have actually bothered to come and show up at King Fahd Cultural Center to follow the event closely.

It was the first time for Fatima Elias to watch a play in Saudi Arabia. Speaking after the performance of “When Spring Comes Around” by the Jeddah Drama Group, Elias said it offended her that the playwright had replaced the character of the wife with the character of a sickly butler in order to adhere to the ban of women on stage performing with men.

“They could have used a little girl to do it instead,” she suggested.

The author of the play, Hail Akeel, who was also one of the actors, said he had to modify the script this way because he could not have an actress to play the role of the wife. “But you know, if I could have a woman I would definitely give her that role on stage,” he said.

Ghanam Al-Ghanam, a critic from Jordan, said Saudi dramatists must convince society that the theater is a safe place for women. “You can’t build awareness in a society without good theater,” he said.

Al-Ghanam said that in fact there have been plays featuring men and women sharing the stage. Last year he worked on “Nujoum Al-Wadi” for a performance in the Aramco Compound.

He described the experience of working with Saudi actresses and said he remains hopeful that women will be allowed to take a larger part in the next festival.