READER COMMENTS

The Qatari theatrical art is not appropriate with the standard, which lovers of the theater or even the artists aspire for because they will harm the career of their artistic reputations even if it was short. For this reason, there must be a continuous process in making more efforts to make there an artistic endeavors better, more comprehensive, successful, and close to the Qatari theatrical works. This is what the Qatari audience expects from the authors, directors, and artists altogether. Therefore, their works must be more brilliant and successful, and carry thoughts and implications that are close to the hearts of the audience of the Qatari theater.

There are some efforts aimed at promoting the Qatari theater. For instance, the British Council in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage and the Centre for Cultural Development can organize an artistic and varied program under the theme of “New Works, New Audiences” with a view to reaching all walks of life. This event is slated to start on Wednesday, October 19 in Doha. The program includes theater, dance, literature, music, visual arts, and engineering design. It aims to convey new, creative, and stimulating skills to a greater number of people who are interested, especially the youth of the Middle East and the United Kingdom. It is also aimed to develop talents and skills of artists and artistic organizations, and provide opportunities for talented artists to cooperate with one another and communicate through a network of relations at the international level.

I do not support those who say that there is a real Qatari theater; such words are not true and I would like to ask: if there is a Qatari theater in reality, where are the works that the Qatari theater produced, and who are the heroes of these works? I believe that the Qatari theater is one of the failed Arab theaters, which cannot advance itself in the way in which the Qatari citizen wishes. The Qatari theater is absent from the arena, and it has no existence except through some works which I think are very embarrassing. They can hardly be worth mentioning, and they make us say that the Qatari theater is a very embarrassing one. We criticize it, along with those who would like to show us that the state of Qatar has a real theater and that it can compete on the Arab arena, in which the theater has reached the top of development in terms of performance and production, as is happening in Egypt and some other countries.

With God’s will, there will be development and that all we want from the ones responsible for the theater in Qatar is to provide all the needs of the Qatari theater like services and good actors with good experience. They work on the rehabilitation of the students who are in the Faculty of Arts in the theater section in order to succeed in improving the entertainment factor. All the coming news speak about the Qatari theatrical art which will reach an advanced stage and it will get the valuable awards indeed. All that we want from those responsible for culture, media, and theatrical arts are the provision of all their efforts in order to be at their very best.

In Qatar, there is no theater and all the attention is given to other issues by the government. Huge amounts of money are spent on football, for instance, or parties. If only it can devote part of them for the service of the theater and dramatists. Of course there are lovers of theater and theatrical performances, especially in Qatar today as a tourist country and people from everywhere in the world come and live on its land. Maybe today they do not want to go to the stadium and they would rather watch a theatrical performance by going to the theater. They certainly will not be able to because we have no theater in Qatar. This really needs to be invested in by the state and it will require support for the development of a theatrical art movement in the country as well as the discovery of young talents that we have, develop and make them theatrical performers at the highest level. We need to build large and modern theaters as well as working to establish theatrical festivals in the country. There should be support and assistance to all the talented people who want to participate. Also, awarding prizes to them will stimulate and encourage the real return of the theatrical movement to Qatar. The theater really has a great role and it is one of the first means of the acquisition of culture and the delivery of information. It is not only a place for entertainment. The goal of the theater is greater and larger than that. It is possible that we advise our young people and teach them through theater. The state is responsible for sponsoring the arts and providing all required support to them. This is a right of the theater artists and theater groups in Qatar even if they were a few.

The theatrical attempts by the Qatari youth to create Qatari theatrical works are rudimentary attempts on this long road of producing the required theatrical works, which reflect the potentials and capabilities of the Qatari artist towards distinction and excellence, as he performs his meaningful work, which stems from their needs of the Qatari community, so that responsible bodies can find solutions to the obstacles and negative things that the Qatari people suffer from. Furthermore, the theater itself is considered the mirror that reflects positive things and developments in all walks of life through putting them on stage. These positive things are a source of happiness and pride for the Qatari people, and they want the world to see the development and creativity Qatar has achieved in all fields during this short period in its contemporary history. Therefore, behind the theatrical works, there should be newly formed theatrical groups distinguished by their meaningful works that reflect creativity, originality and expression, through their performance on stage. They should stay away from low-quality works that don’t have intellectual, cultural, or aesthetic values, and seek profits only through the presentation of the right ideas.