From Al Masry Al Youm: In Paris, ‘Chicago’ becomes ‘I Wish I Were Egyptian’

This month, the first adaptation of Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany's “Chicago” is showing at the Amandiers Theater in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. Published in 2006, “Chicago” depicts the lives of Egyptian students at a university in the American city. It is a tale of exile and expatriates' frustration with their native country's government; this is precisely why French playwright and Amandiers Director Jean-Louis Martinelli chose to adapt it in Nanterre, where many members of the local community are North African immigrants dealing with the same sentiments of uprooting and exile.

According to Martinelli, theater should echo life, and Aswany’s novels emanate transcendent values of humanity, making their theatrical adaptation equally exciting and powerful. He first met Aswany two years ago in Cairo to ask for his permission to adapt "Chicago" into a play. After several working sessions, the script was ready, and Martinelli decided to call it “I Wish I Were Egyptian” after the revolution began in January.

(For more, please see: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/505811)