Directed by Ronald Weihs
Music by Thomas Baker
Drawings by John Williams
Design by Judith Sandiford

Cast: Tony Adah, Shannon Kitchings, Pasha Mckenley, Muoi Nene, Kurt Spenrath, Aktina Stathaki

Toronto’s AfriCan Theatre Ensemble presents a comedy called Fate of a Cockroach by Egyptian playwright Tawfik al-Hakim, one of the most important authors in the Arabic world.
"I think this play will be surprising to many Canadians. It’s funny, it’s crazy and satirical. Not at all the image that most of us have about the Arab world.", says Ronald Weihs, the director of the play.
In the first act, the characters are cockroaches, who live near a huge lake – sometimes filled with water, sometimes empty. The King falls into the lake (now dry) and cannot escape. All the other cockroaches pray to the gods to rescue him. In the second act, we see the gods – a married couple getting up for work. The husband becomes fascinated with the plight of the cockroach in his bathtub – to the dismay of his wife. Will the gods rescue the cockroach, or simply watch him struggle? With its pointed political satire, Fate of a Cockroach, written in 1967, is one of al-Hakim’s most popular plays.
Raised in Alexandria, Tawfik al-Hakim (1898-1987), was sent to France by his parents to complete a doctorate in law, but fell in love with European theatre, and decided to devote his life to the art form. Egypt has a long literary tradition, but until al-Hakim, there was little Arabic theatre. Almost single-handedly, al-Hakim created Arab theatre in the twentieth century. His works are witty, clever and thoughtful. He is a household word in the Arabic world, but hardly known in North America.
Fate of a Cockroach is the AfriCan Theatre Ensemble’s first play from Northern Africa, and represents the large Arab population in Africa, as well as the Middle East. Considering political events today, it is important for Canadians to have a greater understanding and appreciation of the rich Arabic culture.
The ATE production of Fate of a Cockroach features a new translation from the Arabic and adaptation by Ronald Weihs and Emad Nafeh, an Egyptian writer and playwright now living in Toronto.