New Policy Opens Malak Gabr Theater to non-AUCians

A decision to remove restrictions which allowed only AUC students and faculty to use AUC’s Malak Gabr Theater has
divided opinion throughout the campus community.

“We are opening up Malak Gabr theater for as many events as we can to be offered within AUC by AUC students, faculty and for whoever we want in the neighborhood to partner with us to offer exciting cultural events that keep this place humming and buzzing every evening throughout the year,” said Vice President of Student Life, Deena Boraie.

However, some students are concerned that the theater will now be used occasionally by outsiders.

Arts Director of AUC’s Theater Department Frank Bradley says that if theater students cannot find a place to rehearse because the Malak Gabr is booked for outsiders, then the university is not prioritizing the students.

“The Malak Gabr isn’t just a stage where students perform on once a semester, it is a laboratory theater, functioning as a space for teaching and rehearsing,” said Bradley.

However, Senior Technical Supervisor of AUC’s Center for the Arts Mohamed Talaat says efficient scheduling will prevent overlap in booking the theater.

“Before every semester begins, we schedule everything. We know when the venue is booked and when it is free. If someone wants to rent the theater, they can rent it during the free days. Summer break is about three months, we should use this time,” he said.

Talaat also suggested that AUC staff who would have to work additional hours to adjust to AUC’s new policy should be paid overtime and compensated accordingly.

“The Malak Gabr belongs to the university and if the university wants to rent it to anyone, why not?” Talaat told The Caravan.

He added that renting the theater may help AUC with what he said were its financial problems.

However, Theater Professor Mahmoud El Lozy says the problem is not about scheduling but how the major is  generally viewed as being of less importance than other majors.

“They’re planning on renting the theater in order to make money. Which is something I don’t quite understand,
because this is a classroom, right?” El Lozy said.

“This theater is our lab, and if they’re going to rent the Malak Gabr, does it mean that eventually they will rent the chemistry labs to pharmaceutical companies? Will they rent the engineering labs to engineering companies? Will they rent the Adham Center and Mass Media studios to television stations?” El Lozy told The Caravan.

El Lozy added that the university admin were wrong to think they could make money out of Malak Gabr.

“They think they’re going to make money. They don’t know what kind of trouble they’re getting themselves into,”
said El Lozy.

But Boraie denied that AUC was looking for financial rewards from sharing the theater with the outside community.

“I think there is a misunderstanding. We do not rent out. AUC is a university. We are an educational institution. We don’t rent out our facilities at all,” she said.

Having people outside AUC run their own events in the Malak Gabr Theater is more of a partnership, Boraie added.

El Lozy says that the Falaki Theatre in Tahrir is a more suitable venue for AUC to showcase talents coming from outside the campus community because “it’s available for all year round rentals.”

Guest artists, directors, designers and performers already feature their work there, he said.