Censorship in the AUC theater department

Theater censorship by Rana Kamaly

LEAD-IN: The recent revolution in Egypt on January 25^th had demands that went beyond politics and the ruling regime. Sarah reports.

Among the many demands of the Egyptian revolution was freedom of speech that was creating a problem even in the most liberal institute in Egypt. The suppression of freedom of speech echoed throughout the American University in Cairo that takes pride in calling itself a Liberal Arts Institute.

The university hosts each year a number of plays performed by students and while the play could even be a Shakespearean one, it has to go through a process of censorship.

Professor, Scriptwriter and Director, Mahmoud El Lozy of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts explains;

MAHMOUD EL LOZY: “We make three copies and we put it on disk as well and we send them to the Bureau of Censorship, which is attached to the Supreme Council for Culture. We send that in advance…several months in advance and they have a committee. They choose three readers. Each one writes their own report, makes his or her observations, decides to cut certain things if they feel like it according to guidelines that are not very clear. We don’t know if they’re there to protect morality or to raise the standard of art or to protect the political order. It’s not clear. They use all kinds of different arguments. And then eventually, it goes to the head of their committee and they write a report and they tell us what needs to be cut, that we have to observe moral standards of morality in costuming in gestures etc…and that we have to abide by the text as it is and they’ve stamped every page and they send it to us and they also ask us in this letter to inform them beforehand of the date of the last dress rehearsal so that someone can actually come and see and make sure that what we’re doing is what we’ve submitted and so we tell them when that will happen and then they send someone and that person comes and then watches the play and after that signs the text.”(:81)

Censorship guidelines come from state security, Al Azhar, the church or even the army.

El Lozy was particularly affected by censorship when a play he wrote in the year 2000 was completely banned as it presented Egyptian history in a way the censors did not like.

Theatre Program Director, Jeanne Arnold, elaborates saying that certain taboos such as intimacy between men and women and references to Egyptian politics are unacceptable.

JEANNE ARNOLD: “One particular play we did that was a very American play had references to Pizza Hut, KFC, some other American institutions and corporations and they asked us to cut those references. I still don’t quite understand why but they did. There are restrictions on what kind of clothing women can wear. If anything is too revealing. We just have to feel our way through it. We know that certain things are going to be a problem. Obviously, anything related to Egyptian politics.” (:32)

As for outcomes of the revolution, El Lozy and Arnold say they have seen none.

JEANNE ARNOLD: “Now, I think is a time when AUC and the students in particular need to very much push back against this and create the opportunity for more freedom of expression.” (:17)


Reported by Sarah Diaa for AUC radio.