Between Stages and Pages: Philosophical Interventions in Sa'dallah Wannous' Theatre

Abstract

This thesis examines the published works and the private library of Sa’dallah Wannous, which arrived at AUB in 2015. It does so by bridging the gap between the marginalia and penciled marks in the philosophy books he owned and read and three of his published plays. Wannous’ plays demonstrate his implementation of specific philosophical ideas on stage, such as existential and Marxist concepts, which raises an intriguing question about the relationship between the two fields, philosophy, and theatre/literature. Before 1967, Wannous was under the sway of existential philosophers, especially Sartre. He published a collection of plays that belong to the Theatre of the Absurd. However, after the 1967 Naksa, Wannous disavowed the theatre of the absurd in favor of political-revolutionary theatre and published a set of plays that reflect Marx’s influence on him. After Al-Sadat’s visit to Israel (1979) and Wannous’ failed suicide attempt, he stopped writing for 10 years, but published again a collection of plays in the 1990s, in the midst of the First Palestinian Intifada (1987). This thesis, hence, studies Wannous’ intellectual development across his life stages to explore the relationship between philosophy and theatre, and how the form of his theatre changed with the change of political events. I examine his pre-1967 absurdist play, The Glass Café (1965), his post-1967 revolutionary play, The King Is the King (1977), and his last published play, The Drunken Days (1997). I examine these plays by bridging the gap between the marginalia of the books in his private library and his plays, highlighting the philosophical influences that shaped Wannous’ intellectuality.