Page Title
Theater
Words
Words
Reviews from
around the
world
around the
world
............
Shorn of the lavish support of the state that Rushdi once made available to the department, those brave young women and
men muddled through the best they could and, the wonder of it, came out with highly creditable performances. The magic of
theatre still lingered and was alive in that department, I felt, and desperately wanted to believe. When professor Nadia
Guindi sent me an SMS two weeks ago, giving me short notice that, finally, my good, old English Department was going to
stage a play at the theatre attached to the Cairo University Hostel, it was like a call from a distant past and I did not know
quite how to feel. I had teaching at the academy that afternoon till 7 pm, and though I did not expect much artistically
speaking, I raced like mad through the heavy Giza traffic and made it there jut as the lights were dimming in the auditorium
and the show was about to begin.
Nadia El-Guindi's message had only told me the title, time, and location of the performance, and the poster outside the
theatre did not mention the name of the author. The play, by Tony Devaney Morinelli, the Performing Arts Director and
Humanities Chair at the Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, as I later discovered, unfolded as an undisguised
investigation of the causes of alcoholism, and all kinds of addiction, and a vehement warning against its lethal
consequences. Though the writing paid sensitive attention to characterisation, was peppered with affective, poetical
patches here and there and had lavish sprinklings of black humour, the play vividly reminded me of all those 'continence'
melodramas which hoisted the banner of 'Defy the Demon Drink' at the turn of the century and were predominantly directed
at the exploited working classes in the England and other Western countries. To the credit of the performance, it valiantly
fought throughout against slipping into the squelchy, emotional morass that such melodramas enticingly offer, and
managed, through the restrained dignity of the acting, the ascetically frugal set and effects, and the smooth and clever
blocking by director Dina Amin, to symbolically transform the suffering of the two daughters caught in the clutches of
poverty and saddled with an alcoholic mother into an existential trap of multiple, wider significance.
That the daughter Rose (Zainab Magdy), rather than decide for herself to put an end to her own, her sister's and her
mother's suffering by willfully killing her mother, according to Morinelli's text, is made to respond to the mother's silent
plea for someone to put a stop to her miserable life, was a concession to Egyptian sensibility, a backing away from facing
the problem head on clash and accepting the burden of guilt. But it was done with great dignity and the audience loved it,
as they loved every minute of the show. When I later asked Zainab Magdy about the choice of play, she told me that Dalia
Youssef had suggested it and they had accepted it since it was an all- women cast and male acting talent was in short
supply at the department.
With nothing but the most basic props, the most basic lighting and a row of chairs on the right where the performers sat
waiting for their cues to enter upon the scene, Dina Amin's production of The Sins of the Mother was a memorable
performance which richly deserves to be projected in other, more popular venues. The wealth of acting talent it
highlighted was truly impressive and was comparable to the most professional of shows. Zainab Magdy as Rose, Ingy
Taha as Ellen, Marwa Belal as Marie, the alcoholic mother, Nancy Awny as the grandmother and root of the whole problem,
and Dawlat Magdy as aunt Theresa were a wonderful surprise and tread the boards as competent, seasoned performers.
Throughout, memories flooded through my mind, and I was sure that the ghosts of old beloved masters, people those
beautiful young actresses never knew, were hovering close in the wings.
Tony Devaney Morinelli's The Sins of the Mother, directed by Dina Amin and presented by the English Department Cultural
Society (EDCS) Drama Group at Masrah Al-Madina Al-Gami'iya (theatre of the Cairo University Residence Hall), 30 April,
2008.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Shorn of the lavish support of the state that Rushdi once made available to the department, those brave young women and
men muddled through the best they could and, the wonder of it, came out with highly creditable performances. The magic of
theatre still lingered and was alive in that department, I felt, and desperately wanted to believe. When professor Nadia
Guindi sent me an SMS two weeks ago, giving me short notice that, finally, my good, old English Department was going to
stage a play at the theatre attached to the Cairo University Hostel, it was like a call from a distant past and I did not know
quite how to feel. I had teaching at the academy that afternoon till 7 pm, and though I did not expect much artistically
speaking, I raced like mad through the heavy Giza traffic and made it there jut as the lights were dimming in the auditorium
and the show was about to begin.
Nadia El-Guindi's message had only told me the title, time, and location of the performance, and the poster outside the
theatre did not mention the name of the author. The play, by Tony Devaney Morinelli, the Performing Arts Director and
Humanities Chair at the Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, as I later discovered, unfolded as an undisguised
investigation of the causes of alcoholism, and all kinds of addiction, and a vehement warning against its lethal
consequences. Though the writing paid sensitive attention to characterisation, was peppered with affective, poetical
patches here and there and had lavish sprinklings of black humour, the play vividly reminded me of all those 'continence'
melodramas which hoisted the banner of 'Defy the Demon Drink' at the turn of the century and were predominantly directed
at the exploited working classes in the England and other Western countries. To the credit of the performance, it valiantly
fought throughout against slipping into the squelchy, emotional morass that such melodramas enticingly offer, and
managed, through the restrained dignity of the acting, the ascetically frugal set and effects, and the smooth and clever
blocking by director Dina Amin, to symbolically transform the suffering of the two daughters caught in the clutches of
poverty and saddled with an alcoholic mother into an existential trap of multiple, wider significance.
That the daughter Rose (Zainab Magdy), rather than decide for herself to put an end to her own, her sister's and her
mother's suffering by willfully killing her mother, according to Morinelli's text, is made to respond to the mother's silent
plea for someone to put a stop to her miserable life, was a concession to Egyptian sensibility, a backing away from facing
the problem head on clash and accepting the burden of guilt. But it was done with great dignity and the audience loved it,
as they loved every minute of the show. When I later asked Zainab Magdy about the choice of play, she told me that Dalia
Youssef had suggested it and they had accepted it since it was an all- women cast and male acting talent was in short
supply at the department.
With nothing but the most basic props, the most basic lighting and a row of chairs on the right where the performers sat
waiting for their cues to enter upon the scene, Dina Amin's production of The Sins of the Mother was a memorable
performance which richly deserves to be projected in other, more popular venues. The wealth of acting talent it
highlighted was truly impressive and was comparable to the most professional of shows. Zainab Magdy as Rose, Ingy
Taha as Ellen, Marwa Belal as Marie, the alcoholic mother, Nancy Awny as the grandmother and root of the whole problem,
and Dawlat Magdy as aunt Theresa were a wonderful surprise and tread the boards as competent, seasoned performers.
Throughout, memories flooded through my mind, and I was sure that the ghosts of old beloved masters, people those
beautiful young actresses never knew, were hovering close in the wings.
Tony Devaney Morinelli's The Sins of the Mother, directed by Dina Amin and presented by the English Department Cultural
Society (EDCS) Drama Group at Masrah Al-Madina Al-Gami'iya (theatre of the Cairo University Residence Hall), 30 April,
2008.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Sins of the Mother in Cairo
CAIRO, EGYPT
Sins of the Mother
Sins of the Mother
Cairo, Egypt
Dublin, Ireland
US Armed Forces,
Germany
Bangalore
Dublin, Ireland
US Armed Forces,
Germany
Bangalore
La Pucelle, The Trial of Joan
by
Actors Scene Unseen
by
Actors Scene Unseen
____________________________________________________________________
SINS OF THE MOTHER
US ARMED FORCES
HEIDELBURG, GERMANY
US ARMED FORCES
HEIDELBURG, GERMANY
Act 1 Community Theater cast members, above from left,
Heather Noel Twist, Kim Teel, Raven Bukowski and Wendy
Latelle present the blighted existence of an Irish American family
in Tony Morinelli’s “The Sins of the Mother” at Harvey Performing
Arts Center in Kitzingen Oct. 14. Susan Telgenhof, left,
portrayed the memory of the strident Irish mother whose influence
left her two daughters and granddaughters in a cloud of
alcoholism and escapism. The play was entered in this year’s
one-act play festival at Heidelberg Oct. 7-9.
Heather Noel Twist, Kim Teel, Raven Bukowski and Wendy
Latelle present the blighted existence of an Irish American family
in Tony Morinelli’s “The Sins of the Mother” at Harvey Performing
Arts Center in Kitzingen Oct. 14. Susan Telgenhof, left,
portrayed the memory of the strident Irish mother whose influence
left her two daughters and granddaughters in a cloud of
alcoholism and escapism. The play was entered in this year’s
one-act play festival at Heidelberg Oct. 7-9.
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This Thursday Ratan Thakore Grant’s MisF!t brings to you a Kalidescope of
Five Plays titled “Truth Lies In A Play“… Members of the Advanced Acting
Workshop show you their skills on the stage with a combination of original and
adapted plays.
“Truth Lies In A Play”
5 short plays:
* “The First and The Last” by John Galsworthy (an adaptation)
* “The Tie” by Tony Devaney Morinelli
* “Khullam Khulla” by Suresh Doraiswamy
* “A Midnight Clear” by L.B. Hamilton
* “Cleveland Waits” by Greg Vovos
Five Plays titled “Truth Lies In A Play“… Members of the Advanced Acting
Workshop show you their skills on the stage with a combination of original and
adapted plays.
“Truth Lies In A Play”
5 short plays:
* “The First and The Last” by John Galsworthy (an adaptation)
* “The Tie” by Tony Devaney Morinelli
* “Khullam Khulla” by Suresh Doraiswamy
* “A Midnight Clear” by L.B. Hamilton
* “Cleveland Waits” by Greg Vovos
Truth Lies In A Play - A MisF!t Premier
Presentation…
May 2, 2007 12:14 pm
Presentation…
May 2, 2007 12:14 pm
BANGALORE
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