SAUDI ARABIA: Young girls barred from play

[JEDDAH, 11 July 2007] - Young girls of eight and nine were prevented from attending a children’s play called “The Return of the Squirrel” that was held at Jeddah’s King Fahd Coastal City.

“We talked to officials at the city but we couldn’t get a clear response on the matter,” said Ali Daaboush, manager director of the Jeddah Drama Group, which organised the event.

The group is now planning to hold the play at a shopping mall that does not close its doors to young girls. The group, which is part of the government-run Saudi Society of Arts and Culture, does not have a stage of its own and so uses the stages of other organisations such as the King Fahd Coastal City.

Women have only been able to attend two plays held so far by the Jeddah Drama Group. Although there is no law preventing women from appearing on stage, Saudi custom and tradition stops women from appearing on stage and being part of the audience.

In March 2006, the Jeddah Drama Group staged a children’s play called “Serenity Land,” which was performed for the first time ever in front of a mixed-gender audience.

Men and women still separated

The play, which was held for two consecutive days, was held at the Sawary Landmark Mall. Another play held at the Jeddah Literary Club last January also saw women attending, although men and women were kept separate.

“I may not have anything to say at the moment except that we’re soon meeting up with Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and will talk to him about various issues that concern us. Jeddah does not have a single cultural center and that’s a major topic for discussion,” said Daaboush.

The Jeddah Drama Group usually stages its plays at the King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) Theater located at the Science College. The group’s former manager, Abdullah Bahttab, who is now the head of the Jeddah branch of the Saudi Society of Arts and Culture, is student activities manager at KAU.

No one from the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the organisers of the Jeddah Summer Festival, has approached the group to organise at least one play or drama.

“We need to be included and supported in that festival,” said Daaboush, adding that the group has approached many private funfairs with almost all asking the group to pay to use their stage.

“Some funfairs asked for SR20,000 per day others asked for SR18,000, that’s unreasonable. The whole budget for the play is around SR15,000. I’m not going to let the actors work for free. We have such limited budgets.”

The group has been lucky to find a mall that has agreed to not charge the group or children tickets to attend. The second performance of a play called “The Return of the Squirrel” will take place in two weeks time at the South Mall located in south Jeddah.

Further information

• Because I am a Girl: The State of the World's Girls 2007 (May 2007)
• Commission on the Status of Women: Draft conclusions on the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against the girl child (March 2007)
• State Party Examination of Saudi Arabia’s Second Periodic Report (January 2006)
• CRIN quiz on gender equality (December 2006)