On the premises of one of the most enchanting Mamluk Palaces, songs of Star of the Orient Om Kulthoum, intertwined with pearls of wisdom from Al Imam Ibn Hazm Al Andalusi (7 November 994 – 15 August 1064) and filled the air.
“Of Lovers,” is the name of a play directed by prominent Egyptian director Hani Affifi. For eight consecutive years, this performance has been held annually at the courtyard and balcony of the Mamluki Palace. Representing two main themes with great audience appeal might be the secret of the success that leads audiences to flock every year to attend the same play over and over again.
The scenes of a play that wittily weaves the lyrics, music and wisdom of Ibn Hazm are carefully scattered around the court of the palace. A feast for the eyes indeed when you are slowly surveying the open area of the palace that reveals bits and pieces of the love stories and all their themes. The opening scene starts with the music of a famous Om Kulthoum song, sharing the same name of the play.
The name of the play is taken from a classic song of Om Kulthoum which is featured in one of her early films entitled Sallama, 1945. The song that is called “Of Lovers, They asked me,” (music by Zakaria Ahmed, Egyptian Sheikh of composers, and lyrics by vernacular poetry pillar Beiram Al-Tounsi) is a witty portrayal of lovers and their love stories.
“We picked the name as if we are asking Ibn Hazm to share his insights on the love stories,” explained Egyptian director Hani Affifi. Invoking Ibn Hazem is highly symbolic, as the director revealed in his opening speech, explaining that Love is an authentic theme in our Arabic heritage and that an Islamic philosopher and thinker has written a whole book on it with all its variations. The book on love titled Touq Al- Hamama (the Neck of the Dove) has many meanings in Arabic. It is referred to as a symbol of eternity and stability, and it is also said that the reference to the dove is affiliated with the fact that the dove was a messenger of love letters between lovers back in the day. There is more symbolism because love messages used to be written with ink while using the tip of the dove’s feathers as a pen. In 30 chapters, Ibn Hazm classified love in all its forms and provided examples of the love stories which were current in his era.
“I have kept the performance intact for eight years, with no changes at all to 90 percent of it. I personally love Om Kulthoum, and I read the book Tawq al Hamama a long time ago. It was very attractive to me because it has such a variety of subject matter with which to work. It could be easily transformed into a dramatic performance. In heritage books, they use poetry as a form of artistic emphasis of their wording, so I toyed with the idea and added lyrics and music from Om Kulthoum songs. It will be a nice double transition, for it will be relevant to modern day audiences, admirers of Om Kulthoum as well as a connection to younger audience who are being introduced to the topic,” Afifi explained.
Though depicting a bygone era as reflected in costumes, settings, music and background, the play has a very vivid modern flair. Playing on the universal theme of love, the director wittily stitched scenes from modern day love to convey the fact that love is an intangible human heritage that is passed on from one generation to the other. The director illustrated how women reveal their love, how men are unable to comprehend such facts most of the time, and how love is truly blind. These realities are the subjects of mini scenes that reveal various love situations to which everyone can relate.
“Both the book and Om Kulthoum’s songs are very generous, they have numerous ideas that explore many love story themes. We looked for love at first sight, jealousy, obedience of lover to his beloved, the melancholy of love, we found these themes in both the book and in Om Kulthoum and hence the harmony.
The play is set in the open air courtyard of the palace and this made the scenography quite phenomenal. There is a reason why the director stuck to the palace for eight years. The magnificence of the palace and its architecture were splendidly revealed in the limelight as the play unfolded. Using the balcony, the stairs and even the courtyard as the players scattered around to perform their stories was also a great use of the place.
“We exerted a big effort in condensing to one sentence the dialogue of an entire scene,” he added. The subliminal experience of discussing the timeless issue of love and lovers within the context of Ibn Hazm and Om Kulthoum, along with all the fine thoughts and ideas they represent, was quite a journey. The director elaborated on love themes via a twist of modern dancing. It blended well with the main theme despite being modern, for after all, one of the merits of love is the fact that it is ethereal and hence it can be manifested in many forms.
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