Memory of Sudanese Theatre:Scenography, Saleh Al-Amin

Sudan Events – Al Sir Al Sayed

Within human experience, in our society and in many societies, some professions have been marginalized and even disdained at times, and in return other professions have assumed high positions. In the art of theatre, the field of our article, specifically in its aspect related to the show, which is a product like any other product in which many professions work together, we will notice the celebration of some of them and the marginalization of others.

The history of the theatrical show with all its complexitiesz and the process that governed its development, witnessed a celebration of the author first, then the director, and finally the actor, with marginalization. For other professions such as scenic designer, light and dark designer, and motion designer.

Of course, this situation did not continue.

The waves that the theatrical performance witnessed, for a number of reasons, imposed specialization.

The theatrical performance was no longer morally indebted to the director alone, but rather to all the professions that collaborated to create it, so the sayings “the director is the master of the show and the actor is the basis of the show” disappeared.

Because of this changing situation in the theatrical production professions, it has become common for us in Sudan, and perhaps until now, we celebrate the actor, the director, and the author and forget the others.

Our theatrical history is full of the names of directors, actors, and authors, but the names of those in other professions are absent from it. Among us, for example, knows Professor Saleh Al-Amin? Or makeup expert Dr. Aida Mohamed Ali?

Saleh Al-Amin:

His biography says: He was born in 1948 in the city of Wad Madani, and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts – Illustration Design.

His experience testifies that he is one of the most important scenography designers in Sudan, and why not?

The most important changes that took place at the level of theatrical performances were associated with him, when he designed the scenography for the play “Hallaj’s Tragedy,” which was produced in the second theatrical season at the National Theater in 1968. Before “Hallaj’s Tragedy,” scenes were drawn on the background, expressing the place in which the event takes place, and with it the concept changed.

The theatrical image, but rather the concept of the director and his position in relation to the rest of the disciplines, such as lighting, scenography, music, and other elements of theatrical presentation.

Saleh Al-Amin’s name has been associated with performances that are considered exceptional in the history of Sudanese theatrical production

Such as performances of “The Tragedy of Al-Hallaj,” “Ahlam Jabra,” “The Rejection,” “People of the Eighth Heaven,” “Safar al-Jaffa,” “The Last Moments,” “The Lion and the Jewel,” “Wadi Umm Sidr,” “Your Eye in the Elephant,” and “Time Dreams.”