In plain Arabic

the long version

An audacious political satire of a kind not seen before on the Egyptian stage, this play quickly attracted the attention of critics at home and abroad when it opened in Cairo in November 1991. A Palestinian student in London disappears. His colleagues, fourteen Arab students each representing a different nationality, meet to decide what to do. The portrayal of their stereotypical national characteristics and attitudes throws a sharp light on the way Arabs see themselves and each other, and their posturing, squabbling, double standards, and inability to act together in the face of a common dilemma call into question the whole idea of "Arab unity."