'El Motafael' to stage National Theater starting July 26

CAIRO - 25 July 2019: Ismail Mokhtar, head of the Theater Art House, will launch the new play "El Motafael" (The optimist) on the National Theater in Attaba on July 26 at 9 p.m.

The show revolves around a person who fights all the problems in his society through optimism to reach his goal.

The play is starring Sameh Hussein, Sahar el Sayegh, Youssef Ismail, Ezzat Zain, Ayat Magdy, Tamer el Kashef, Amgad el Haggar, Zakaria Maarouf, singer Mostafa Sami and a group of young actors from the National Theater Group.

The play is inspired by Voltaire's novel “Candide”, and is edited and directed by Islam Imam.

“Candide” is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment.

The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled “Candide: or, All for the Best” (1759); “Candide: or, The Optimist” (1762); and “Candide: Optimism” (1947).

It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being programmed with optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss.

The work describes the abrupt abeyance of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world.