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For Immediate Release Contact:
Barbara K. Laskin/ Doug Stone
April 5, 2005 (651) 696-6203
Macalester College Theater and Dance Department
Presents
Muhammad Maghut's "The Jester" in the English Language
Premiere
April 15-17, 22 and 23, 2005
St. Paul, Minn. - Macalester College Theater and Dance Department
presents Muhammad Maghut's "The Jester," Janet Wallace
Fine Arts Center, Main Stage Theater, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul,
Minn. Tickets are $7 general admission and $5 for seniors and
groups. Performances are 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat., April 15, 16,
22 and 23. There is also a 2 p.m. performance on Sun., April 17.
Theater and Dance Department Assistant Professor Evan Winet directs
this world premiere of a new translation from the Arabic by Temple
University's Gordon Witty.
"The Jester" is a dark farce about ongoing struggles
for identity and justice in the Arab world. The play was written
in 1968 by the celebrated Syrian poet and playwright, Muhammad
Maghut, and like many Arab works of that historical moment, it
reflects critically on the failures of Arab nationalism leading
to the overwhelming defeat in the 1967 war against Israel. It
humorously portrays an Arab predicament that has lost none of
its poignancy since 1967.
This past January, Winet met with Maghut in Damascus, Syria.
"The worst democracy is better than the best tyranny,"
Maghut said. "Until Arabs are allowed to vote freely without
being controlled or watched, they will remain outside history."
? In connection with the play, a public symposium titled "Muhammed
Maghut and Poetic Critiques of Arab Nationalism" will be
held at the Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center, John B. Davis
Lecture Hall, at 1 pm, Saturday, April 16, 2005. Participants
include: Mohammed Bamyeh, Macalester College; Gordon Witty, Temple
University and Edward B. Ziter, New York University. The event
is free and open to the public.
Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a national liberal arts
college with a
full-time enrollment of 1,845 students. Macalester is nationally
recognized for its
long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism,
diversity, and service to society.
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