| In an attempt to draw attention to their quest for self-empowerment, this dissertation explores the role and contribution of women in the establishment of theatre in the Arabian Gulf region, in general, and the Sultanate of Oman, in particular. Based on 2007--08 field research by the author in the Sultanate of Oman, and examining the different collected data and interviews as well as drawing from own personal involvement with theatre; this study proposes that women have not only been dynamically involved in the establishment of theatre in this particular region, but also that their impact on dramatic writing and theatrical practice is more significant than previously recognized. Drawing on literature in Arabic theatre history, feminist theatre criticism, women's studies, and Arab/Islamic studies and history facilitated my inquiry in uncovering the attitudes in the Arabic/Islamic culture toward a woman's body on stage and the risks involved when trespassing and challenging what is considered to be an exclusively male domain. As a background, I provide an overview of the history of Arabic theatre and its early actresses in Ottoman Syria and Egypt from the end of the nineteenth-century not only because of the geographical and cultural links between the Arabian Gulf region and the larger Arab World, but also because theatre in the Arabian Gulf region is viewed as a continuation of the Arabic theatrical tradition, past and present. |
