Egypt’s censors lift ban on play ‘Before The Revolution’

In this Wednesday, March 14, 2018 photo, Egyptian director Ahmed El Attar, sits in a room at his office in Cairo, Egypt. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)

In this Wednesday, March 14, 2018 photo, staff working for the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival walk outside their office in Cairo. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)

CAIRO: Egypt’s state censors have allowed the performance of a socially critical play they had prohibited on the day of its Cairo premiere.
Director Ahmed El-Attar had earlier canceled the showing of “Before the Revolution,” a two-actor piece that depicts oppression and stagnation in Egypt before its 2011 popular uprising. He said the removal of five scenes as demanded by the censors heavily distorted it.
In a statement late Monday, organizers thanked the censors for reversing their decision on appeal and permitting it to run “without the disruption of its dramatic construction.”
The play will now run for three nights as opposed to its originally scheduled six in a 100-seat theater, as part of Cairo’s annual Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival. El Attar is also the general manager of the festival.