The First Arab Performances

Abstract

Although a few Arabs attended the European theatres in Tunisia and Algeria, mostly those connected to the staffs of the French bureaucracy, these cultural institutions remained largely supported by and for the benefit of the European population in these countries. A substantial and ongoing theatre for the majority Arab public did not appear in any part of the Maghreb until the opening years of the nineteenth century, then inspired by a mixture of municipal pride, colonial concerns, local interest, and, perhaps most importantly, tours of pioneering Arab theatre companies from Egypt.