Yesterday at the Drama Theater in Katara (The Cultural Village), the Doha Theater Company put on a performance of The Puppeteer, a play participating in the Doha Theater Festival organized by the Ministry of Culture’s Theater Affairs Center. The play is written by Jamal Abdullah and directed by Fayiz Al-Falih who also starred in the performance with Hanan Sadiq. The team included scenographer Abdul Rahman Al-Manaey, assistant directors Ibrahim Mohammed and Khalifa Jabr, and Khalifa Jaman who composed the soundtrack.
Fayiz Al-Falih, who directed and starred in the play, explained that The Puppeteer is about a loving married couple who live in peace until war breaks out. As their hometown becomes a conflict zone, the husband, who is a puppeteer, refuses to leave with his wife to escape the shelling. The shelling intensifies, and despite his wife’s pleas to leave, he insists on staying even when darkness envelops their home. He added that his character is very clam despite the danger, yet his role requires a powerful performance that conveys and the concept of citizenship. He also noted that the play has no projections on current world events.
The Puppeteer is the second play to be performed in the festival after Qatar Theater Company’s Al-Ghubba which was enacted two days ago. The third and final play, Dana’s Love Story which is written and directed by Hamad Al-Rumayhi, will be performed on Saturday by Al-Watan theater Company. This year’s festival schedule includes five university theater performances, all of which are international plays, three performances by community theater groups, three discussion sessions, and eight seminars. The schedule also includes a series of research presentations, a special performance of Najma’s Theater by the Theater Affairs Center, and discussions that follow each performance.
Next Sunday, the Opera Theater at Katara is expected to host a celebration of World Theater Day, which is celebrated every year on March 27. The festival awards will be announced at the celebration, and the winners are to be honored.