Latest news with #Aristophanes
Daily News Egypt
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily News Egypt
Aristophanes in Tel Aviv
A few weeks ago, I was in Brussels when I saw a pro-Palestine demonstration in the heart of the EU capital, calling for an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza. Earlier, in Berlin, I witnessed a small group waving Israeli flags and singing near the iconic Brandenburg Gate—an attempt to send messages justifying the crimes of the occupying state as a 'war of self-defence.' These scenes are typical. Whatever your political leanings, you would likely view them as legitimate expressions of political positions. But on the other hand, not even the greatest satirists in history could have imagined the absurd scene I witnessed in Tel Aviv: protesters in the heart of the Israeli capital demonstrating in front of the Egyptian embassy—in support of the Palestinian people! The demonstrators took souvenir photos with Israeli soldiers, the same soldiers killing Palestinians and depriving Gaza of the necessities of life, all while attacking Egypt, as if the dust rising from Gaza's rubble could somehow conceal such blatant hypocrisy. This protest, which drew widespread mockery across Egyptian and Arab social media, ignored Israel's responsibility for besieging, starving, and massacring Palestinians, instead placing the blame squarely on Egypt. This, despite the fact thatEgypt has provided the largest share of aid to Gaza since the start of the war—70% of all assistance—and has never closed the Rafah crossing from its side. Israel, meanwhile, occupies the Palestinian side of the crossing and maintains full control over all other entry points to Gaza, effectively besieging the Strip by land, sea, and air. It is, without question, the primary culprit behind Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe. Logically, such a protest demanding the lifting of the Gaza blockade should have marched toward the Israeli Ministry of Defence or Prime Minister Netanyahu's residence. Instead, it revealed its brazen support for Israel—at a time when some are inciting against Egyptian embassies abroad. I will not blame those who fall for Israeli propaganda about 'self-defence,' as the propaganda machine is powerful. But for matters to escalate into a protest against Egypt in the very heart of Israel? That is a scene worthy of an Aristophanes play—or perhaps a George Orwell novel—depicting a parallel universe where the truth is turned upside down. The ongoing attempts to distort Egypt's historic role in supporting the Palestinian cause serve only Israel's interests by diverting international public opinion away from the real culprit. The reality is that Egypt is determined to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestine—not just as a moral obligation, but to ensure the Palestinian people remain steadfast on their land and to prevent Israel's plans for forced displacement into Sinai, which it seeks to achieve through starvation. A full reading of the situation shows that since the war began, Egypt has consistently pushed to end it in order to protect Gaza's residents. It has hosted the Cairo Peace Summit and the Extraordinary Arab Summit, succeeded in brokering a ceasefire in January—only for Israel to renege—and put forward a reconstruction plan for Gaza to counter displacement schemes. Egypt has also organised visits for numerous international officials to Rafah, allowing them to see the reality on the ground and helping to create international pressure to end the war. Egypt's efforts to support Palestine are unmatched regionally or internationally. That is why I believe the Tel Aviv protest against Egypt—and the incitement against Egyptian embassies abroad—should not be read with sober political analysis. Whether seen as an attempt to ease pressure on Israel, a campaign to pin Gaza's tragedy on Egypt, cooperation between the Muslim Brotherhood and Zionism, or part of a larger plan for forced displacement, I strongly urge filmmakers and satirists to immortalise this absurd spectacle in their work. Some events are simply too absurd to address seriously; they deserve to be met with nothing but satire. Ragy Amer is a writer, academic, and radio presenter at Egyptian Radio.
The Guardian
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Please don't fart, this is art' – Stephen Sondheim's musical The Frogs review
The interval playlist includes Crazy Frog, which isn't by Stephen Sondheim. But the composer's own springy numbers are the best reason to catch this rarely seen musical based on ancient Greek satire. Aristophanes, writing at the fag end of a protracted war, conjures demigod Dionysos, accompanied by Xanthias, his slave ('though I prefer 'intern''). He braves the underworld to reclaim a dead genius, picking Aeschylus over Euripides. The musical's Dionysos considers George Bernard Shaw, but eventually plumps for Shakespeare. Originally staged at Yale in 1974 (Sondheim: 'One of the few deeply unpleasant professional experiences I've had'), it was expanded for Broadway in 2004 (Sondheim: 'It suffered from inflation'). The extended version takes a jape too far. We open with the best number: a fanfare plus jaunty injunctions to the audience ('Please – don't fart. / There's very little air and this is art'). Dan Buckley's droll Dionysos and Kevin McHale's Xanthias, all wriggle and snicker, begin their quest, though Burt Shevelove's book makes scenes feel more like skits. Herakles (Joaquin Pedro Valdes) is a himbo totting up his abs, the boatman Charon (Carl Patrick) a lugubrious stoner and Pluto, lord of the underworld, has a breathy cabaret number delivered by regal guest star Victoria Scone in a brushed steel bouffant. The musical never develops Dionysos' daddy issues or frog phobia, or nails its notion that the ribbiting amphibians represent stick-in-the-mud grouches impervious to change. The frogs get a waddling ballet, in goggles, bobble toes and spangly waistcoats – choreographer Matt Nicholson devises nifty, wide-legged moves. But Shaw's battle with Shakespeare, trading smug aphorism and voluptuous word-painting, is an awful slog, unleavened by Georgie Rankcom's heavy-footed production. 'You can stop rhyming right there,' snaps Dionysos, but it would take more than a testy god to halt Sondheim, for whom rhyme was reason. 'Hippy-dippy insurrectionists' meet 'hasty pasty-faced perfectionists,' while a song to Shaw moves from animosity through pomposity to verbosity. Melancholy songs also slide between the shtick (Sondheim has a bittersweet tooth). The god's final call to arms can't give gravity to this show – but however stodgy the setting, the songs still shine.
