Maria Fernanda del Rio, a social media activist, reviewed the life of writer and theater director, Hamad Abdullah Al-Rumaihi, during the episode of the initiative “Meet a Writer from Qatar with Maria,” which is broadcast on social media and the YouTube channel of the Qatari Forum for Authors. Author, theater director and screenwriter, Al-Rumaihi holds a BA in literature and theater criticism from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kuwait. On the beginning of his career, Maria said that he started off his career as an actor in 1969, and participated with the Lebanese director Abdel Latif Samhoun in the play “Ṣaqr Quraish,” in which he played the role of Ali, but he did not succeed in it; so, he forsook acting; and since 1980, he has been a writer and theater director. She discussed Al-Rumaihi’s most important theatrical writings, which are the first part of “Badriya,” “Al Majānīn” (1981), “’Adhāb Ahmed bin Majid” (1990), “Ra’aytu mā Ḥadatha” by Bahraini writer Ibrahim Ghalloum (1991), “Mawāl al-Faraḥ wal Ḥuzn” (1993), and “Kalb al Agha” by Syrian writer Mamdouh Adoun. As an author and director, he has made several contributions, including “Munāqasha” (1983), part two of “Boudriah” (1988), “Arabsat” (1992) in collaboration with artist Hisham Yannis, “Muḍṭtahadūn” (1995), and “Oyster Malikatu al ‘Uṣūr al Qadīmah” (1996), and his final oeuvre in 2005, “Ṣabra wa Ibnatuhā,” a joint work with artist Hisham Yannis.
Al-Rumaihi wrote a wide range of series for TV, individually and in collaboration with colleagues. The first was “Ḥikāyat Ṣalbūkh” (1983), in partnership with Ghanem Al-Sulaiti, followed by “Fayez Al-Toush,” another collaborative work with Ghanem Al-Sulaiti and directed by Ibrahim Al-Sabbagh. In 1988, Al-Rumaihi wrote “Mahmoud ‘Ayesh Farḥān,” directed by Abdul Majeed Al-Rashidi; and in 1994, he wrote “Āh Minnak,” which was directed by Amin Al-Tarifi.