CAIRO — Saudi Arabia has sought the help of Egyptian artist Ashraf Abdel Baqi to establish a mixed-gender Saudi theater troupe in the framework of the kingdom's social policy of becoming less stringent.

Saudi Arabia recently opened its first cinema, is going to allow women to drive and held the first cycling competition in which women participated. To develop its performing arts sector, the kingdom invited Abdel Baqi, the founder of Masrah Masr theater troupe, to work in the country. Performances by Masrah Masr (Egypt Theater) were broadcast on the Saudi MBC TV network.

Abdel Baqi’s efforts to build the Masrah al-Saudia (Saudi Theater) yielded their first results when a cast of 50 Saudi men and women put on two plays in early April. “Dunya al-Alaab” ("Toy World") and “Mamnou Doukhoul al-Sayidat” ("Entry of Women Prohibited") were performed on the stage of the Society of Culture and Arts in Jeddah.

The director of Gulf productions for the MBC Group, Ahmed al-Assaf, who oversees the work of the Saudi troupe, said during a press conference April 5, “The Saudi Theater is echoing the experience of Masrah Masr and aims to train young talents, and to turn some of them into theater and television stars.”