Some places in Egypt are long-lived, including Sayed Darwish Theatre, which was renovated and called the Alexandria Opera. Its story is about 168 years old.
The book “The Biography of Arab Theater Choirs in the Nineteenth Century” by Tayseer Khalaf says that the history of Sayed Darwish Theater in Alexandria is very old, since there was a theater called Zizinia Theater in its place that was owned by Count Zizinia, and it was opened in 1864, inaugurated by Khedive Ismail. Count Ziznia owned it until 1882.
Then its ownership was transferred to the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, then to Baron Jacques Menashe, then to the Real Estate Company, then to Charles Bacchus, and finally to Prince Youssef Kamal until 1916, then its ownership was transferred to the Lebanese Badr Al-Din Qardahi Bey, who established the Teatro Muhammad Ali in 1918, who designed the building in the style The Ionian architect at the hands of the famous French engineer "George Park", and its name became the Sayed Darwish Theater in 1962, then it was renovated and became known as the Alexandria Opera since 2004, and the Zizinia Theater had a giant show stage that included 2000 seats, and this theater witnessed the first Arab theater performance by Selim Troupe. Discussion in December of 1876 and then in 1884 in performances by his Igloo Troupe.
Thu, Apr. 28, 2022
