AMMAN — Jordanian actor, Nabil Sawalha has dedicated himself
to exploring life’s secrets, knowledge, and experiences he recently told Jordan
News.
اضافة اعلان
Sawalha was born in 1941 into an “open-minded family”, as he
described it. He obtained a degree in engineering in the United Kingdom, but
his introduction to art began at a young age. His older brother Nadim Sawalha,
a well-known actor in Britain, used to encourage his family members to pursue
art.
“My brother Nadim used to do imagination theater work at
home, and I was only five years old at the time,” Sawalha said. “One time my
brother urged me to enter the field of acting. As he told me: ‘Every actor can
be an engineer, but not every engineer can become an actor’.”
In his view, the main goal of art is to reflect on the
sadness and the hardness of people’s lives. “Acting expresses negative
phenomena in a comic way, to be more acceptable to people,” he explained,
adding that much of what he says when acting would not be accepted unless it
was hidden behind a smile.
In his acting roles, Sawalha tries to teach the audience
something new. “For example, in one of my series, “Baini wa Bainak,” I gave
(the audience) a moral lesson in every scene,” he said. “That is the real role
of acting.”
“Baini wa Bainak” (which translates to “Between me and
you”), released in 1980, and represented Sawalha’s professional breakthrough.
Sawalha has also received acclaim for his partnership with
Hisham Yanes, including on a play called “Ahlan Nabil Wa Hisham,” (“Welcome
Nabil and Hisham”).
Yanes is a refugee from Palestine and Sawalha is a Jordanian
citizen from Madaba. The two have different personal backgrounds, but have been
affected by similar experiences, such as political events, wars, and
demonstrations. These events produced unique experiences that the actor said
led to the need for artistic expression.
“Our existence in that place at that time participated in
our success,” Sawalha said of his partnership with Yanes, which began in the
1990s. Their artistic freedom was supported by the late King Hussein, who once
witnessed Yanes imitating King Hussein during a performance.
Sawalha said that art and theater are never perishable,
arguing that in every country there are many circumstances that contribute to
strengthening or weakening the theater. He said that shuttered borders between
Arab countries was a factor that has led to the decline of theater in region.
Sawalha emphasized the need for governmental support to help
Jordanian theater recover culturally, adding that in Syria and Egypt, the
government is very aware of the importance of the dramatic arts. “It has a
message on the cultural level, and it has another importance to the national
income.”
“All we need is a supported project to create a new theater
that reflects on people’s lives and problems,”
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