Better than ten envoys
the world-renowned kuwaiti playwright and theatre director, sulayman al-bassam performed his famous play ‘in the eruptive mode’ in boston, the cultural capital of the united states of america, at the famous robert orchard theater. i personally enjoyed the six-day show on youtube. the play was part of a world tour. the second version was performed on six stages, while the first version was performed in three stages, kuwait and sydney, paris, then kuwait, tunisia, beirut and tunisia again. it was a prelude to the ‘arab spring’. the play telecast to the world via the french tv station metz in may followed by a belgian station last october. the play included monologues with female voices, half in arabic and the other half in english with live translations. the european cultural sites described the show as based on the backdrop of the ‘arab spring’ and the ongoing struggle in our world. the play’s characters come in sequence through short and fast scenes focusing on the repercussions of the kidnapped revolutions (arab spring), according to one commentator, focusing on the characters of the victims of authoritarian arab regimes, ordinary people, officials, security men, opportunists, and the rest of the victims. in the same vein, a belgian site as stated in a letter from the artiste shakir abel, described the show as ‘an appointment with a creative kuwaiti’, and narrated the artistic career of the sulayman al-bassam, his masterpieces. as the critic marina da silva said in her article in the french le monde diplomatique said that sulayman, by his work ‘in the eruptive mode’ has created a ripple by producing a very wise version of the play saadallah wannoue ‘rituals of signs and transitions’, upon assignment by the french national theater. la comédie française in 2013, reveals himself in his work “‘in the eruptive mode’ also as an extraordinary writer and author.” marina da silva added that sulayman in six female stories presented by two actresses and a musician creates a real aesthetic surprise by presenting women as the battleground of destruction in this world, and not just victims. in a letter shaker said the french critic mathilde rouxel after attending the show at the le passage festival in metz, france, last may, wrote a critical article about the play in which she said it was an exhibition of the suffering of women in the heart of the arab spring. “this work is trying to understand the voices and pain of people who are in the throes of a world in chaos, and everyone would like to see that change,” she said. “it gives space to unheard voices and uncompromising characters, away from the classical revolutionary. these women do not make a revolution, but they refuse to submit to a painful fate imposed on them,” rouxel added. “these women are not figurative characters, and they do not engage in a political struggle, except for the right in life, in love, desire and freedom,” rouxel said. and other various wellknown critics wrote about the play. sulayman al-bassam is a kuwaiti phenomenon and has quickly moved to international fame, a unique personality worthy of praise. the free propaganda he made for his country is much more than what 10 ambassadors do
