‘Before the Revolution’

25 January 2011 was a decisive moment for Egypt and the world. Six years after Tahrir, director Ahmed El Attar is taking a closer look at his country. But because in Egypt it is not possible to speak about what happened after the ‘revolution’, the play examines the present and future of the country by looking back. How do we look back on that key moment, both personally and socially? What can we still remember from the times before? And what are the parallels with today? Before The Revolution deals with all these questions, with a mix of documentary and theatre, fiction and reality. The text and actors are central to this, on an almost empty stage.
Ahmed El Attar is a director and playwright, and a driving force behind the artistic scene in Cairo. He is director of the multidisciplinary Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (DCAF) and the Emad Eddin Studios. His play The Last Supper has been performed at the Avignon Festival and BOZAR. Newsweek have called him one of the 42 people who have changed the Arab world.