Abdul Wahab Abu Saud

Personal Info

Country of residence: Palestine

Gender: Male

Born in: 1897

Information

Abdul Wahab Abu Saud (1897-1951) , a Palestinian artist, writer, and theater director who lived, worked, and died in Damascus . He was one of the pioneers of theater in Syria . His star shone during the reign of King Faisal I when he presented a satirical political play about Jamal Pasha , the former governor of Syria during World War I.

Origin

Abdul Wahab Abu Saud was born in the Palestinian city of Nablus . His father, Abdullah Shawqi Abu Saud, was an officer in the Ottoman army . He studied in the schools of Sidon and Beirut , then moved to Damascus with his family after his father was appointed there. He then traveled to Egypt to join Al-Azhar University , in response to his father's wishes. He attended Cairo theaters and worked with George Abyad for a period, so his father summoned him from Cairo. He worked in Damascus schools and used students in theatrical productions. He taught drawing at Anbar Office and drew caricatures in Jarab Al-Kurdi magazine .

Abu Al-Saud traveled to Paris and studied drawing and oil painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, graduating in 1937.

Starting in Egypt with George Abyad

In Cairo, Abdel Wahab Abu Saud became acquainted with the world of theater and became one of its pioneers and lovers. He was embraced by the Lebanese star George Abyad , one of the giants of modern Egyptian theater, who taught him the basics of acting, singing, and playing the oud, and introduced him to the masterpieces of world theater and the works of William Shakespeare . Abu Saud worked as an actor in Cairo for a short period, then returned to Damascus with audio recordings of Shakespeare’s works , all sung by George Abyad , to present to his amateur artist friends. They founded a theater troupe modeled after George Abyad ’s troupe , which performed its first play, “Martyrs of Love,” at the Crystal Palace Theater in the Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus , written by and starring Abdel Wahab Abu Saud . This was a few weeks before the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

With Ahmed Obaid's theatre troupe in 1915

During the war years, Abu Saud collaborated with the young artist Ahmed Obeid, who founded an amateur theatre troupe in 1915, which included young men from well-known Damascene families such as Fawzi al-Azm and Abdul Wahab al-Qanawati .

Jamal Pasha the Butcher play

After the fall of Turkish rule and the establishment of an Arab government in Damascus in 1918, the Syrians pledged allegiance to Prince Faisal bin Hussein as their ruler, who was known for his closeness to the West and his admiration for the arts and theater. During his reign, Abu Saud decided to hold a theatrical performance that told the tragedy of the Syrian people during the time of Jamal Pasha , the Ottoman officer who ruled the country with an iron fist and spread terror among the people of Damascus during the years of World War I. The novelist Marouf al-Arnaout was asked to write the text of the play, which bore the title “Jamal Pasha the Butcher,” and Abu Saud extended an invitation to the royal palace, hoping that Prince Faisal would be at the head of the audience on the night of the premiere. The prince accepted the invitation and went down to the Damascus Flower Theater in Marjeh Square to attend the performance, in which Abu Saud played the role of Jamal Pasha . The performance was met with warm applause from the audience, and Abu Saud subsequently became an absolute star in the artistic circles in Syria.

Abu Saud and Faisal bin Hussein

Prince Faisal took pity on Abdul Wahhab Abu Saud and instructed the Minister of Education, Sati’ al-Husri, to make use of his talent, since artistic affairs in Syria were at that time under the Ministry of Education, many years before the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, which did not see the light of day until the union with Egypt three decades later. He was contracted to give paid acting lessons at King al-Zahir School in Bab al-Barid and at Maktab Anbar School , and he was also tasked with drawing historical figures in school books, such as Saladin , Harun al-Rashid , and Tariq ibn Ziyad .

Impact and legacy

Abdul Wahab is considered the second pioneer of theatre in Syria after Al-Qabbani. He was the first to establish a scientific curriculum for teaching drawing in schools in Syria.

Death

Abdul Wahab Abu Saud presented a large number of plays, both classical and contemporary, of which no photographic or recorded trace remains. He died after attending a theatrical performance by a group of his students in one of the churches of Bloudan in 1951.

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