This book is the first structured and complete research work undertaken on opera theatres across the entire Middle East and North Africa. Until now, no single study has looked at every theatrical and musical institute in these countries. Many of the opera theatres that are examined here have had very little written about them at all. This work fills this void in order to provide scholars and practitioners in the sector with the first reference work on the subject that will help our understanding of the evolutionary process that has led-and continues to lead-all the countries in the MENA region to equip themselves with an opera theatre.
north africa
“Over the last 15 years, around 10 new opera theatres and performing arts centres have been built in the Middle East and North Africa, and many others have been restored and modernised. From the Maghreb to the Arabian Peninsula, governments are allocating tens of millions of dollars to
provide financial support for new cultural growth. Why?”
Opera in the Middle East and North Africa
The diffusion of a modern theatre culture, in a European mould, across the Middle East and North Africa occurred during the colonial period. Starting in the 19th century, with the presence of the great European powers initially in the countries of the Maghreb and then spreading across much of the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, a process of Westernisation took place – one of the strongest in modern history. The adoption of foreign languages and the spread of the colonising powers’ traditions and customs radically transformed the socio-cultural profile of the entire Middle East. So it was that, starting in the early 19th century, the first theatrical and operatic performances began to be promoted and organised by European companies in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Before long, the region’s first opera theatres were also under construction. The history of opera in the MENA region had begun. In order to understand the characteristics of this diffusion and development better, it is useful to conduct a brief review of the principal phases of this art form’s evolution.