For two whole weeks the Qatari play Wazeer Al Nas (People’s Minster) constituted a cultural event that has attracted the audience by its daring tackling of many issues of importance to the society.
According to the daily Al Hayat, the play criticizes what it describes as the people’s minister who changes from an honest person into a slaughterer of people. This bitter criticism has become the topic of talks between people and indicative of the theatrical venues at this stage.
Costarring in the play along with the young Qatari stage actors are prominent Kuwaiti artists including Khaled Al Nafisi (People’s Minister), Haya Al Shaabi (Minister’s wife) and Abeer Ahmed (Minister’s daughter). Also the Qatari play screenwriter Abdel Aziz Jasem took part in the performance.
The play portrays the new minister who becomes after assuming office busy with his private business projects and partnership with those contractors who work for his ministry. He even gives his wife, daughter and son in law the opportunity to become partners in certain projects. This is in addition to his keenness on appointing his family members in top ranking posts in his ministry throwing down the open door policy which every new minister follows. People have become forgotten amid the interests of the new minister.
The play makes gestures to those ministers who embezzle the budget of their ministries and appoint their relatives in high-ranking posts including the director of the minister’s office. It also sheds light on the problem of low governmental salaries, the fact that spurs the wife of the most honest employee, head of tenders committee, to ask her husband to exploit his position and embezzle money and accept bribery. The husband nixes his wife’s request and put up with her pressures and threatening of divorce.
Despite the steadfastness of the honest employee (before being appointed minister), his conditions change when he becomes minister including the type of his house and the life style of the family -- Albawaba.com
