Peer Gynt by the Pyramids in Giza

Abstract

This chapter traces the history of Ibsen's plays in Egypt, whether in the form of printed translations or performances. It shows that though the plays, which started to appear in Arabic since the 1950s, gradually gained in popularity among drama scholars and students of European drama and literature, they were rarely performed on the Egyptian stage, and suggests a number of reasons for this. The rest of the chapter is devoted to a discussion of the Ibsen productions in Egypt during the celebration of the centenary of his death, with special attention to the Norwegian/Egyptian Peer Gynt in Giza.