Shadia sacrifices theatrical roles for the sake of her sister Afaf Shaker

CAIRO – 8 February 2021: Shadia, the Egyptian artist who was able, with her simplicity and wit, to dig her name deep among names of the great artists of the Golden Age, was born on February 8, 1931.

ET sheds light on a story Shadia had with the art of theater.

The beginning of the story goes back to when the late legendary comedian Ismail Yassin formed his theater group, the Ismail Yassin Troupe in 1955, in partnership with his friend, writer Abul-Saud Al-Ibyari.

He was keen to include a large number of stars in his troupe, and he successfully included legendary names, including Shukry Sarhan, Tahia Carioca, Stephan Rosti, Abdel Fattah el-Qusari, Mahmoud el-Meligy, Kariman, Firdous Mohamed, Hassan Fayeq, Zeenat Sedky and many others.

According to the book "Shadia - The Moon Never Goes Down" by Maher Zuhdi, Yassin wanted to include the artist Shadia in his troupe, but she apologized, and instead nominated her sister Afaf Shaker, who joined the troupe in early 1956.

Shaker performed several plays with the troupe including “Ana Haze Bomb” [I am very lucky], “Hob w Gawaz w Floos” [Love Marriage& Money], and “Kol El-Regala Keda” [All Men’s the Same].

The book explained that Shadia realized that theater is Afaf Shaker's special kingdom, so she decided not to compete with her, especially that she was fully aware that if she decides to perform in theater, the producers and directors will stop assigning any roles to Shaker, especially since they both physically resemble each other.

Producer Samir Khafagi offered her in 1967, to star in the musical play "Bambah Kashar" that he wrote, and assigned its directing to Hussein Kamal. She was supposed to co-star with late comedian Abdel Moneim Madbouly, but she also refused, despite her sister’s decision to quit art. Shadia devoted herself to the cinema.