ASigned by Egyptian actress Samiha Ayoub, the message from the International Theater Institute (ITI, in its original acronym in English), points to the state of the world, “to this vile image of brutality, racism, bloody conflicts, forms of single-mindedness and extremism “, and aims to reencounter the free and tolerant human being, recognizing in the theater and its ability to represent life, from all perspectives, the possibility of “facing the darkness of ignorance and extremism”.
“I invite you all to stand up together, hand in hand and, shoulder to shoulder, shout loudly, as we are used to doing on the stages of our theaters, and let our words come out to awaken the conscience of the whole world, to find in ourselves the lost essence of humanity,” writes the Egyptian actress chosen by ITI to write the official message for World Theater Day 2023.
“Our humanity, which has become doubtful”, perhaps “will one day return to being a categorical certainty that will make us feel proud of being human”, continues Ayoub, in an appeal that extends to professionals in the performing arts, “playwrights, directors, actors, scenographers, poets, choreographers and technicians, all without exception”.
“Because we are at the forefront of confrontation with everything that is ugly, bloody and inhuman (…) with everything that is beautiful, pure and human (…), it is we, and no one else, who have the capacity to spread life”, stresses the actress, urging professionals to act “in the name of one world, one single Humanity”.
A veteran of the Egyptian stage and one of her country’s most awarded actresses, Samiha Ayoub says that “every fiber” of her being “shudders before the burden” imposed by the “overwhelming pressures and contradictory feelings” of today’s world, with its “conflicts, devastating wars and natural catastrophes”, to psychological peace and to the spiritual world, aggravating the very weight of the responsibility of being an actor.
The actress argues that never before have human beings been “so closely linked to each other”, nor “so dissonant”, thus pointing out “the dramatic paradox that the contemporary world imposes”.
Despite the current forms of communication, “which have overcome all geographic boundaries, the conflicts and tensions the world is witnessing have surpassed the limits of logical perception and created, in the midst of this apparent convergence, a fundamental divergence that distances us from the true essence of humanity,” writes Samiha Ayoub.
“Theater, in its original essence, boils down to a purely human act based on the true essence of humanity, which is life”. Therefore, he continues, addressing professionals, when they enter a theater, “leave all the dust and dirt outside”, all “the petty concerns (…) that spoil your lives and divert attention from art”, writes, paraphrasing Russian playwright and pedagogue Konstantin Stanislavsky, author of “The Method”.
“As soon as we go on stage, we do it with the only life in us, the one that exists in a single human being”, a life with “an enormous capacity to divide itself, to reproduce itself and to transform itself into many lives” .
“We are the ones who give life its splendor. We are the ones who embody it in flesh and blood. We are the ones who make it vibrant and give it meaning. And we are the ones who give it the reasons to understand it. We are the ones who use the light of art to face the darkness of ignorance and extremism”, opposing “the values of truth, goodness and beauty”, because “life deserves to be lived”, concludes Samiha Ayoub.
Born in Shubra, in the Egyptian capital, on March 8, 1932, Samiha Ayoub has a career spanning more than half a century in theatre, cinema and television. A Nile Award for the Arts winner, she managed The Modern Theater in the 1970s and directed the Al-Qawmy Theater from 1975 to 1985. The main hall of the National Theater of Egypt is named after her.
An initiative of the ITI, a body affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Theater Day is celebrated on March 27, since 1961.
The Portuguese translation of this year’s official message was made by actor Tiago Fernandes, from the resident cast and director of Teatro do Noroeste — Centro Dramático de Viana.
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