The most important thing that distinguishes works of art is that they come from pure conscience. Behold, from the center of the rock, a gushing spring emerges from the soil. Mud, dust, limestone, volcanic debris, and debris in the valleys free it from the turbulent ties that bind it to jackals and humans. Then, it flows in gentle streams and with it the greenery flows: the green leaves flourish, as well as the yellow leaf and its sister, which withers before its time on the branches. You see clothes celebrating that. Thirsty lips, like hands, wait for a drop of it before pouring all its goodness into gardens and fields that touch the borders.
This morning, I was delighted by the Beirut rain, the Hamra Street rain, on the sidewalk of the cafe, and Professor Youssef Raqqa's creative theater work: “Daily Dreams”. House of Temptations. Lebanon”. A dark morning in the rain, how beautiful it is to return to why, to lose oneself behind a dream, far, far away, to follow one's position, to save oneself, to become one's savior. In the country, in his country, people are closed, so they understand what is happening. They will not, behind closed doors, behind open borders, open squares, open streets, families and families, they are all possibilities like prisoners.
Writer, poet and playwright Professor Yusuf Raqqa collected in this work everything that can affect the conscience, whose owner sees with his eyes and calculates on the fingers of his hands, hot daily sorrows that prevent a person from swallowing. His saliva, from going about his day like everyone else. , generally in peaceful countries, with spiritual clarity. Here, he looks around, he sees nothing but fire and the effects of fire, he sees nothing but death and its shadows, he sees nothing but sorrow and its shadows, bears all the cruelties except the hot day. And violence, the bitterness of deadly coexistence with juice.
Yusuf Raqqa's homeland burns from all sides, darkening the entire world in his eyes. He starts drawing his pen, his day is bright in his eyes. Slipping neglected paper from neglected notebooks, he records people's expressions, their inventions, their daily needs, their misfortunes and how they got stuck. He sees them when they are out in the open: no bread or clothing, the cold destroys their children, kills their sick, brings them hardships and storms. Later, when his daily circumstances became more dire, he found the roofs falling on his head and his dreams shattered.
This is the case of Yusuf Raqqa, when he draws his pen, the ink flows from his blood, from his tears, from the baskets of his daily pain, on his back, he dips it into his heart and rests, maybe he is. Satisfied with blood that angers him. He slowly paints his eyes with red ink, sees the burning horizon, how a homeland splits into two houses, how screams become loud, how bullets explode, how the sky rains soot, the sky, roofs, toilets and floors choke with smoke.
Perhaps they are legitimate questions that emanate from Yusuf Raqqa's conscience, these questions, raw, fluctuating, pulsating, in his play: “Daydreams”, when he is in a moment of death and glory:
“Presenting my dreams to the reader… As for me, I carry my worries alone… I read the text before going to sleep… I laugh a little… Then I sleep… Good night… , with hope.”
Playwright Obaido Pasha wrote about the characters in the play “Daily Dreams” by playwright Yusuf Raqqa:
“His harsh diagnoses are based only on the solid foundations of studying the void. Along with new developments that provoke despair, he traces traces in and around the earth… Yusuf Raqqa bases his existence on peace and silence… His writings, with simplicity, are an element of renewal. His The writing is formal, with gestures… broken fingernails… sleeping with the cover of the letter… a kind of alienation, on a pile of stage chalk… bloodstains exposed, with tense scenes… a raw presence… the presence of impatient corpses… Yusuf The last texts, like his first writings… His hand is warm from the earnest search for obstacles to doubt… This is due to doubt, the root of crisis, the root of solution, Joseph's tenderness…”
Author, Poet, Playwright and Media Personality, Yusuf Raqqa:
“Shehabiya is a playwright from the city. He started his theater career with director Jalal Gowri. He established a theater group in the city of Shehoor. He directed the plays Parliament – 1976 and Al-Kharith. “A Countryside Tour” directed by Yaqub Al-Shatrawi – 1984 starring Kamal Jumblad.
He wrote and directed the play “The Shatter,” as well as “33 Prayers in the Belly of the Whale.” It won an award in Montreal – 2007, was translated into French and English and presented in Canada. Festival Trans Americas.
– He holds a law degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lebanon and a theater diploma from the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Lebanon (1981 – 1980).
He has many articles and studies in Lebanese and Arabic newspapers and magazines.
The play “Daily Dreams” by author Youssef Raqqa was among the twenty best plays nominated to win by the jury of the Arab Drama Commission.
At the end of the tenth and final scene of his favorite play, “Daily Dreams,” he says:
“We want our beautiful dreams back … do you hear … do you hear … do you hear …?”
Dr. Qusay al-Husayn
Professor at the University of Lebanon
