Friday 10/October/2025 – 04:31 PM
The Al-Warsha Theater Troupe will celebrate its thirty-eighth anniversary at the House of Arabic Poetry (Bayt al-Sitt Wasila) by presenting the theatrical poetry performance (Workshop 38), at eight o’clock in the evening next Sunday, October 12, in the presence of a selected group of members of the band throughout its artistic history.
Through the show, the workshop recalls its exceptional experience in presenting Arabic poetry over a period of 38 years in a way that combines theatrical performance and poetic style, to reformulate the relationship between the text and the audience. This experience comes as a continuation of the approach of the workshop group – which was founded by the artist Hassan Al-Jaritli in 1987, in exploring new theatrical methods, which began by dramatizing international texts by prominent writers such as Peter Handke, Dario Fo, Harold Pinter, and Franz Kafka, before moving towards inspiration from Egyptian traditional performing arts and popular theatrical experiences.
Workshop 38: A dramatized poetry performance in the House of Arabic Poetry
Throughout its history, the troupe has presented various theatrical works, including “Ghazir al-Layl,” “Ghazl al-Amr,” and “The Sweetness of the World!” “Workshop Nights” also presented contemporary visions of Egyptian theater texts, such as “A Bullet in the Heart” by Tawfiq Al-Hakim, and the operetta “Days of Glory” by Badie Khairy and Daoud Hosni, as well as performances inspired by the poetry of Bayram Al-Tunisi and composed by Zakaria Ahmed.
Poet Sameh Mahjoub, director of the House of Arab Poetry, said that the House of Poetry seeks to provide a different experience that reformulates the reception of Arabic poetry outside traditional templates, and opens the way for the audience to discover its aesthetics in new performance forms.
The cooperation with the workshop troupe comes in this context, as the show presents an innovative theatrical experience that makes poetry more present and influential, in a lively blend of words, rhythm, and performance.
It is worth noting that the workshop troupe is considered one of the pioneering theatrical groups in theatrical experimentation, and has participated in prestigious international festivals, most notably the Avignon Festival in France in 2014, and was the first Egyptian troupe to represent independent theater in this global forum. In addition to its theatrical production, the troupe works to train new generations of artists, and enhances the role of theater in the fields of development and education, in cooperation with local and Arab cultural and community institutions. “Workshop 38” is an open invitation to poetry and theater lovers to experience an unconventional artistic experience that revives the poetic heritage with a contemporary vision, and makes the spoken word a vital space for artistic and cultural interaction.
