Review: THE LAST SUPPER at The Kennedy Center

The Last Supper, a Temple Independent Theater Company Performance, written and directed by Ahmed El Attar with music by Hassan Kahn, premiered in the U.S. at the Kennedy Center between March 14-16 2019 after several productions around the world.

The play is a comedic satire performed in Arabic with English subtitles. The satire is followed by riveting post-show discussion, during which the cast provides insight about the juxtaposition between the extreme affluence driving indifference, and oppression inspiring activism that many of the performers observed and experienced during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

The performance starts with a view of a large pristine table erected to host a family meal, the first of many strategic representations of excess wealth. The acting begins with family prayers trailed immediately by an animated discussion between a father and son that reveals their interest in financial prosperity, their proclivity to gossip about those in their community, and their authoritative patriarchal roles in the household. Within minutes, the audience is brought into the world of this wealthy Egyptian family, in which each member is a caricature infatuated by their self-absorbed philosophies.

The primary characters-"The General," the patriarch of the family (played by Sayed Ragab); The Father, (Ahmed El Attar); and Mido, the son-in-law (Abdel Rahman Nasser) occupy the majority of the dialogue. Each of these characters brings dark humor to the performance with blatantly racist, misogynistic, and entitled rhetoric, which is stereotypical of wealthy men living lives void of meaning, empathy, or substance. Ironically, Ramsi and Sayed stand out as particularly animated in their discussions, deepening audience awareness of their characters' lack of intellectual, emotional, or political acuity.

The women and children (played by Dalia Ramzy, Nanda Mohammad, Mona Soliman, Mona Farag, Ramzi Lehner, Ahmed Farag) in the performance seem symbolically secondary. Each of these characters had very few lines if any at all. The women only interject the conversation to parade feminine stereotypes, such as a love for shopping and a predisposition to crying. This gives them little opportunity to shine as performers, but much opportunity for the audience to wonder if these characters are as eerily empty as their male counterparts, or if their existence is considered of so little value that they need not participate.

The servants (played by Zakariya Tagelser and Mohamed Hatem) have few lines but their presence is acknowledged throughout the performance. They are referred to as vermin by other characters and are subject to violence and abuse. Nevertheless, they exude a sense of quiet surrender-an inertia that leaves the audience feeling tense and perturbed. The most compelling moments during the performance are those of imminent brutality. On the cusp of these moments, the screen goes dark, the characters freeze, and unnerving, Alice falling-into-wonderland-esque music plays while the servants clean. These moments allow the audience to reflect on the divergent thoughts and experiences of the characters existing in the same room at a single moment of time. It is this theme that inspired Attar to entitle this performance The Last Supper, as he hopes this will be the last supper, filled with ignorance and apathy, of its kind. It is no wonder this performance has been a global success. It highlights profound but universally understood contrast between the bourgeoise and the oppressed and leaves you with a sense of truth and unease, sensations which will undoubtedly linger.

The Last Supper is part of The Lab PerForum series, which provides intimate access to leading theater artists from around the world through panels, discussions, and interactive workshops. Through a partnership with the Kennedy Center's WORLD STAGES, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics' signature approach offers rare insight into the artistic approaches and social contexts of work from artists around the world who are using theater to engage the most pressing issues of our time.

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