No'man Ashour

Place of birth:

Daqahliyah, Egypt

No'man Ashour is known as the founder of realism in Egyptian drama. He believed that Comedy is the best medium to reflect reality, especially if it is painful.

Since early on in life, Ashour loved the stage. He was greatly influenced by comedian Naguib Arrihani's on-stage critique of society

Ashour was very fortunate to discover that his grandfather possessed a library full of books in the various disciplines.

In his years of university education, he staged a number of Shakespearean plays and read Ibsen and Checkov. He was also very close to the post-WWII literary movement

His plays reflect interest in a) politics; e.g. The Grinding Mill; Al-Doghri Family, Countries Afar and b) socio-economic conditions and class struggle.

Plays

They include:
The Magnet – 1955
Time Game – 1980
Secret of the Universe – 1970
The Grinding Mill
Al-Doghri Family
Three Nights
Countries Afar – 1976
People Upstairs