The Syrian playwright who challenged the regime
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 June 2021
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An experimental play staged in Damascus in 1971 undermined official Syrian propaganda. Simply by stating that the Arab nations had been defeated by Israel during the Six Day War its author, Sadallah Wannous, identified himself as an opposition figure. Zak Brophy spoke to his widow, Faizah Shawish, about the play and its place in Syrian theatre.
Photo: Sadallah Wannous with his parents and daughter in 1988. With the permission of the Wannous family.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:37.0 | Hello and thank you for downloading the podcast of Witness History from the BBC World Service with me |
| 0:46.0 | Zach Brophy. Today the story of a highly influential PlayStation Damascus in |
| 0:51.1 | 1971 following Israel's blistering defeat. station Damascus in 1971 |
| 0:52.6 | following Israel's blistering defeat of the Syrian Egyptian and Jordanian armies |
| 0:57.5 | in the Six Day War. |
| 0:59.2 | Fertrittistinaad Kana Masrahi. In the 1960s, |
| 1:03.0 | in the 1960s, theatre was a new thing for us. |
| 1:07.0 | I was an actor in the National Theatre from the very beginning. |
| 1:10.0 | It was the golden age of theatre in Syria. |
| 1:15.0 | It was on Syria's burgeoning theatre scene that actor Faisa Shawish met the up-and-coming playwright |
| 1:20.0 | Adal-Wunus. |
| 1:21.0 | I got to know Sadala through the theatre he was at the beginning of his career. I loved him. |
| 1:31.6 | Our relationship was wholesome and fulfilling. He added so much to my life. |
| 1:45.0 | Faisin Sadala married and lived together until his death in 1997. |
| 1:50.0 | In the mid-60-Lam married and lived together until his death in 1997. In the mid-60s they were among a young |
| 1:55.1 | generation infused with hope. |
... |
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