Book review: Syrian theater in 100 years

Syrian playwrite and dramatist Firhan Bulbol's new book, "Syria's Theater in One Hundred Years," published in Damascus by the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts deals with the history of the Syrian theater in particular, and the Arab theater in general.

It sheds light on the beginning of Syrian theater in the 1840's and its development through the year 1946, when Syria won its independence. The writer in the first chapter discusses the Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian pioneers who paved the way for an independent Arab theater after the first world war.

Dr. Nabil Haffar, a drama critic, said that the book is of great importance with regard to documentation. It relies on information gathered from different books and conferences and conversations with old people who still remember bits and pieces of the theater's activities in those bygone days.

The book also centers on the "Damascene School" of theater launched by Abu Khalil al-Qabbani for being one of the important schools in the Arab theater. This school, in fact, does not only belong to Damascus but also to Homs, Aleppo and the rest of the Syrian cities.

Its teachings reached Egypt and helped strengthen the Arab roots in theater. Bulbol concluded his book by giving evidences that the Arab theater was first born in Lebanon, Syria and spread later to the rest of the Arab states.