Nabyl Lahlou

Nabyl Lahlou
نبيل لحلو
Born1945 (1945)
Fes, Morocco
Died (aged 81)
Rabat, Morocco
EducationParis at Académie du Théâtre de la Rue Blanche and L'Ecole Charles Dullin
Occupations
  • Film director
  • theater director
  • author
  • actor
Notable workLook at the King in the Moon
SpouseSophia Hadi
ChildrenMariakenzi Lahlou

Nabyl Lahlou (Arabic: نبيل لحلو; 1945 – 7 May 2026) was a Moroccan film director, theatre director, author and actor, known for being an innovative theater and film director, and is considered one of the most influential Moroccan theater directors of the 1980s.

Background

Nabyl Lahlou was born in 1945 in Fes, Morocco. He studied theater in Paris at Académie du Théâtre de la Rue Blanche and L'Ecole Charles Dullin, and later taught at Kordj-el-Kifane (Algeria). He wrote plays in both French and Arabic; among his French plays are Ophélie n'est pas morte (Ophelia is Not Dead) (1969) and Schrischamtury (1975), and among his Arabic Les Milliardaires (The Billionaires) (1968), Les Tortues (The Turtles) (1970), and Asseyez-vous sur les cadavres (Sit on Corpses) (1974). His first medium length film was Les Morts (The Dead) (1975), while his first feature-length film was Al Kanfoudi (1978).

Lahlou died in Rabat on 7 May 2026, at the age of 81.

Theatre

Lahlou directed his first play Al-Sa"aa in Morocco in 1965, then left to study in France, returning in 1970.

Many of his works modified Shakespeare to reflect post-colonial Morocco. Written in 1968, his play Ophélie n'est pas morte was influenced by the Shakespearean, with its title being a reference to Shakespeare's Ophelia. Supported financially by the Morocco Ministry of Culture, it was first performed in 1969 by Lahlou's 'University Theater Companies'. Within the play, the two different Shakespeare characters of Hamlet and Macbeth are presented in a micro drama with the characters voluntarily paralyzed and their acting confined by the use of crutches or wheelchairs. His production of Al-Salahif (The Turtles) was considered a breakthrough.

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 Don Rubin; Ghassan Maleh (1999). The world encyclopedia of contemporary theatre (illustrated, reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 175. ISBN 9780415059329. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Leaman, Oliver (2001). Companion encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African film (illustrated ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 487. ISBN 9780415187039. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  3. ↑ "Nabyl Lahlou". Africiné (in French). Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  4. ↑ Armes, Roy (2008). Dictionary of African Filmmakers. Indiana University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-253-35116-6.
  5. ↑ Moroccan filmmaker and playwright Nabil Lahlou dies at 81
  6. ↑ Amine, Khalid. "Moroccan Shakespeare: From Moors to Moroccans". postcolonialweb.org. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Berrechid, Abdelkrim. imruu ?al-qays f'ba'ri'z (Imruu Al-Qais in Paris), Rabat, Editions Stouki, 1982.
  8. ↑ Berrechid, Abdelkrim. [OTayl wal-Xayl wal-ba'ru'd] (Otheil, Horses and Gunpowder), Casablanca: at-taqafa Al-Jadida, 1975. (play was first performed in 1975-6 by theatrical company at-ta'si's al-masrahiya' of Casablanca and directed by Ibrahim Ouarda.)
  9. ↑ Calderwood, James L. (1983). To be and Not to be: Negation and Metadrama in Hamlet. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231056281. Retrieved 10 June 2009. To be or not to be: Negation and Metadrama in Hamlet.
  10. ↑ Hélène Cixous; Catherine Clément; Sandra M. Gilbert; Betsy Wing (1987). The Newly Born Woman (illustrated ed.). I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781860641374. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  11. ↑ Leaman, Oliver (16 December 2003). Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-66252-4.
  12. ↑ Ilboudo, Patrick G. (1988). Le FESPACO, 1969-1989: les cinéastes africains et leurs œuvres (in French). Editions La Mante.