The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

This Wednesday, March 27th, the Studio Nasibian Theatre will welcome an experimental show, Carcosa, directed by Hasnaa Shabayek, merging cinema with theatre in a creative and thought-provoking production. As part of the theatre’s Jesuit Nights of Cairo Ramadan performances, the play is inspired by Ambrose Bierce’s 1886 short story, An Inhabitant of Carcosa. This set of five performances will seek out the vicious circles of our lives, suffocating us and leaving us feeling void of purpose.

An ancient and mysterious city seen only through its ruins, Carcosa is a place of mindless repetition. Time means nothing, and people have nothing to live or strive for. The endless cycle rids us of all faith, and we stop growing. As the play delves into this suffocating routine, its trivialities and banalities, it explores the cycles of five characters in the aftermath of the poisoning of four dogs. It will take the form of five performances, each in a separate location, including a theatre, an office, a farm, and the street. A new story is told with every change of location, creating a story that draws from the nature of the setting.

Carcosa explores the blurred lines between our individual lives and community, turning us into clusters of people in a public space governed by time and speed. It is a reflection of the rules binding our communities and societies, the harsh realities of the capitalist rat race, and the interconnectedness of every living thing. As the poisoning of the four dogs serves as a catalyst where the characters begin to question these rules and break them, routine inevitably wins, bringing us back to the cyclical repetition we try so hard to break free from.