Podcast: The afikra Podcast (LS 41 · TOP 1.5% what is this?)
Episode: How Egypt Used Theater to Fight British Occupation | Prof. Carmen Gitre
Pub date: 2026-06-22

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Theatrical stages often mirror the intricate evolution of the societies that build them. Professor Carmen Gitre explores the burgeoning performance culture of Cairo between 1867 and 1930. This era witnessed a shift from street storytelling and shadow plays to formal theater houses designed for an emerging class of Western-educated intellectuals. The discussion traverses the grand spectacle of the Suez Canal’s opening to the subversive nationalist songs of performers like Mounira al-Mahdiyya. Through this historical lens, the stage appears as a critical site for negotiating modernity, colonial influence, and Egyptian identity.

00:00 Introduction

01:28 The Evolution of Performance

03:56 Commissioning an Operatic Staple for a Global Stage

07:35 Street Storytelling & the Shadows of Earlier Traditions

12:02 Urban Redesign Mirroring a Parisian Vision of Modernity

18:46 Defensive Developmentalism & the Weight of Sovereign Debt

27:21 Syrian Practitioners & the Burgeoning Role of the Press

32:31 Efendi vs. Basha

39:01 Vernacular Choices for an Elevated Public Education

44:31 Satirical Observations through a Modernist Lens

51:14 The nuances of the women's movement

57:04 Disembodied Voices in the Era of Early Recording

58:00 Performances Spilling into the Nationalist Fervor of 1919

01:03:02 Cinematic Transitions and Legacies for the Everyman

Carmen Gitre is an Associate Professor of Middle East History and Associate Chair of History at Virginia Tech University. She earned her Ph.D. at Rutgers University in 2011. From 2011 to 2014, she taught in the International Studies and History Departments at Seattle University. Her academic interests include cultural history, imperialism, and the relationship between performance, identity, and modernity in Egypt. Her book, Acting Egyptian: Theater, Identity, and Political Culture in Cairo, 1867-1930, was published by the University of Texas Press in 2019. Other publications include 'The Dramatic Middle East: Performance as History in Egypt and Beyond,' and 'Nonsense and Morality: Comedy in Interwar Egypt.' Her current work delves more deeply into interwar art, performance, and cultural influence in Egypt.

Connect with Carmen Gitre 👉 https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-history/faculty/carmen-gitre.html

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

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