Tahrir is Here

We Live in Cairo brings the drama and politics of Egypt's Revolution to the Stage

This past spring, MEI had the opportunity to take part in the world premiere of We Live in Cairo, a musical centered on the Egyptian revolution, at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.). MEI’s Faculty Director Professor Tarek Masoud was a project consultant to the show and brought MEI on board to co-host “Act II” conversations with observers and analysts of Egyptian culture and politics following many of the performances to stimulate dialogue and increase audience engagement. MEI had the privilege of speaking with Daniel and Patrick Lazour, the writers and composers, and Taibi Magar, the director, to learn more about their collaboration and the making of the musical.

We Live in Cairo premiered in May 2019 at the American Repertory Theater. The musical chronicles six young Egyptians from 2011-2013 as they begin to imagine the unimaginable: a brighter future for themselves and their fellow citizens. The emotional show forces audiences to confront the oft-unseen realities of mass movements as the characters learn the fate of their friends and their country. Contained in the show is a hopeful story about the triumph of the Egyptian people, but the writers also expose the chaos that followed the demonstrations and the tumultuousness of exercises in democracy.

We Live in Cairo is a lesson in the cost of civic duty that leaves audiences wondering if they would do the same as the show’s protagonists.

“It is fitting that the Egyptian revolution and its aftermath should be made into a work of art, because it was itself a work of art. Those eighteen days in Tahrir were a collective act of stunning creativity by a people few thought capable of such a feat.”

Tarek Masoud, “Reliving Tahrir”

Making the Revolution Personal

Beginning in 2013, the show starts at the “end” of the revolution when the activists reunite and reflect on the hope of 2011 and their work together. Act I, while encompassing the eighteen days in Tahrir Square, also illuminates the abuse Egyptian citizens had experienced for generations at the hands of politicians, police, and, broadly, the state. Karim, a young AUC student and prolific graffiti artist sings about freedom of expression, his art, and his numerous run-ins with police. Fadwa, a hijab-wearing, second-generation liberal and activist, discusses her and her mother’s various arrests. The group is motivated by the brutal murder of Khaled Said, a teenager from Alexandria beaten to death by police in June 2010. As Said’s image and newspaper reports about his death are splashed across the backdrop via an elaborate projection design, the audience understands that Khaled was a real person and viscerally experiences the response to his death. The visual effects—pioneered by Magar and projection and video designer David Bengali—become the seventh character in the play, representing at turns the authoritarian state, the complicit media, the budding social network activism, or the power of the people.

Watching the six individuals from separate parts of Egyptian society—the other four include Hassan, a student unable to attend university without the support his family receives from the Muslim Brotherhood; Layla, a photographer struggling to find her place in her society and religion; Hany, a gifted lyricist with a penchant for jurisprudence; and his brother Amir, a guitarist with the melodies his friends and the audience hope will overcome Egypt’s fractious politics—allows Western audiences to enter the nuances of a place many have only glimpsed on cable news. Romance between Layla, a Muslim, and Amir, a Christian, and the hint of attraction between Hassan and Karim add depth while drawing the audience into moving personal narratives within the overall arc of the revolution. Audience members familiar with the details of the revolution are not surprised when both the protests and Layla and Amir’s relationship falter in Act II.

It is the very sense of these six characters overcoming every obstacle to join the millions of Egyptians on the street demanding “bread, freedom, and social justice” and an end to police brutality that changed the trajectory of Egypt and the Arab world. As the projected images of Tahrir Square fan out and the cadence of the performers’ chants crescendo to envelop the audience, this pulsating, hopeful moment inspires viewers and draws strong emotions from those who know how the state and the will of the people devolve. Beginning the show in 2013, the writers foreshadow the challenges ahead for Egypt’s fledgling democracy, and the audience spends the intermission willing history to rewrite itself.

Making the Drama Political

In speaking with the Lazours and Magar, their courage, and the enormity of the task they undertook—creating a show of which Egyptians are proud that also reaches Western audiences—is evident. Sharing the Lazours’ agent, Magar was initially hesitant to join the project. She didn’t want to direct the play simply because of her Egyptian heritage, and rebuffed her agent’s pitches. After her first reading, though, Magar fell in love with the thrust of the piece because it aligned with her own questions about art, aesthetics, and citizenship. Coming to the play in early iterations meant Magar was an integral voice encouraging the Lazours to dig in and be more specific. Together, the team worked on deepening the history within the piece to present an engaging story grounded in the nuance of the political and historical forces that confront Egyptians every day.

MEI Faculty Director Professor Tarek Masoud, who joined as project consultant in 2018, shaped a large part of the creative team’s historical and political exploration of Egypt. In addition to the academic rigor and generous amount of time Masoud lent the project, he grasped the artistic goals of the show and was able to relate history and politics to the narrative structure. The Lazours credit him with constantly finding creative ways to build the dramatic tension within the trajectory of the show using the events and characters of the Egyptian revolution. For example, in the opening number, Magar explained the team’s attempts to cover decades of dictatorship in a six-minute song. They relied heavily on Masoud, who instead of reducing the piece to a retelling of events worked with the creative team to imbue complex ideas, theories, and history into their theatrical vision, resulting in the comedic yet poignant opening number “Sharm El Sheikh.” Similar imprints from Masoud can be found throughout the show, especially Hassan’s character, rooted in the poorer parts of Islamic Cairo that Masoud has studied intimately for many years.

In addition to desk research, the Lazours and Magar had the opportunity to hold a reading of the musical for students at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Many of the choices the creative team made came from their field research in Egypt and their conversations at AUC. Informed by conversations with hijab-wearing women, Fadwa’s character covers while Layla’s character, who struggles openly with her faith throughout, does not. Their choices are not discussed through the dialogue of the play—a conscious decision to disrupt the hyper-focus on head coverings in Western media and political discourse. Magar was specifically moved by an emotional exchange with an AUC student, who admitted that he came to the reading dubious about a bunch of Americans taking on the story of the Egyptian revolution. Over the course of the conversation, Magar said it became clear that he was a member of the LGBTQ community. He emphasized how important the piece was, telling her, “You have to tell our story because we can’t.” Magar knew this narrative needed to be told, but once she heard his story it became more urgent, more necessary. She still thinks of him and they remain in touch.

 Professor Masoud also wrote an article for the A.R.T. program titled “Reliving Tahrir.” His words set the backdrop for audience members and furthered the creative team’s vision for the play—an Egyptian history worthy of audience members’ hearts. He asks, “Was Tahrir Square just a dream?” The imprint the show leaves on audiences answers with a resounding no. While demands made in Tahrir Square in 2011 have yet to be realized, We Live in Cairo is one interjection into the conversation regarding revolution and the ultimate outcomes of the Egyptian case.

A.R.T., with support from MEI and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, hosted “Act II” events following many of the performances. These short talkbacks invited experts, academics, and practitioners to share their experiences of Egypt and of the show, and to interact with audience members as they began to process what they had witnessed. For the Lazours, Act II discussions helped make the musical not just a show, but a conversation, as they hoped it would be. Imbued in these discussions was the idea that this story is not static. The brothers wanted to make sure that audiences understand that a revolution is a process, and that the Egyptian revolution is still ongoing. Events continue to unfold after that big burst of optimism splashed across the front page of the New York Times. Through this experience, the Lazours met people who put their lives on the line to make their country a better place. In describing their work, the brothers often reference individuals who broke the “wall of fear” and risked their lives for their country. We Live in Cairo revives the dream of Tahrir and begs the question, what does revolution mean to me and would I break down the wall of fear?

Read more stories & interviews on the musical and the Act II events at: www.americanrepertorytheater.org/we-live-in-cairo