by Sa`dallah Wannus

Sa`dallah Wannus, Syria’s and perhaps the Arab world’s best-known playwright of the late twentieth century, was born near the Syrian coastal city of Tartus in 1941. After receiving his primary and secondary education in Syria, he obtained an undergraduate degree in journalism from Cairo University in Egypt. Wannus subsequently received an advanced diploma in theater studies from the Sorbonne’s Institute of Theater Studies in Paris in 1968. Throughout his life, he would balance critical with creative writing. He not only produced a large number of essays on his and others’ theatrical works but for many years also edited the journal al-Hayah al-masrahiyah (Theater Life). In the late 1970s Wannus helped establish the High Institute for Theater Arts in Damascus and went on to teach there. He published two collections of short plays before leaving...