Sculpting in Sand: The Construction of Narrative in Contemporary Yemeni Theatre (original) (raw)

2017, Arab Journal of Performance Studies

Contemporary theatre in Yemen utilises a diverse range of theatrical forms, from stark tragedy to improvised comedy, from the musical to absurdist theatre. Yet by and large, across all of these sub-genres, Yemeni productions tend to be performative rather than narrative. This paper will examine a striking exception, a one-woman show entitled 'Mukāfāt Nihāyat Khidma' (‘End-of- Service Payment’), written by Munīr Ṭalāl and capably acted by Yemeni actress Amānī al-Dhamārī at the 2014 Festival of Yemeni Theatre in Sana’a. Through the fictionalised autobiographical narrative of the protagonist, delivered initially to an absent character and later to the audience as to an interlocutor, the play explores the struggles of single women in Yemeni society ــــ the pressure to accede to early or arranged marriages, the difficulties of pursuing higher education, the often frustrated desire to participate in society outside the protective walls of the domestic sphere. This narrative highlights its own inherent paradoxes, as a woman’s monologue written by a male playwright, and as a supposedly private lament against the seclusion and isolation of women, delivered on the public stage by an eloquent and determinedly visible young actress. This paper explores the careful construction of the protagonist’s narrative, her strategies for eliciting the complicity of her audience, and her self-portrayal not merely as a marginalized woman but also as a frustrated artist and performer, whose sculptures in sand and performances of puppet theatre illustrate her latent, uncultivated talents and the marginal locus she inhabits within Yemeni society.