The close links between Egyptian theatre and Egypt's political, social, economic and cultural experiences have kept it oscillating between success and failure. Freedom of expression is certainly the key to the theatre's ability to attract large sections of the population. The role of the theatre is essentially to criticise, not to justify, the status quo. Censorship has become a bureaucratic tool to preserve public morals, public order, state security and higher state interests. This really boils down to religion, politics and sex.
Art is the spirit of adventure, a search for the new.
The state that seeks to preserve the status quo through censorship has also, strangely enough, adopted experimental theatre and created an annual festival for it. Experimental theatre can reach maturity only if people enjoy true freedom of expression. This week's Soapbox speaker is a theatre director.