Tayeb Saddiki
الطيب الصديقي
Saddiki in 2004
Born	(1939-01-05)5 January 1939 [1] Essaouira (Maroc)
Died	5 February 2016(2016-02-05) (aged 77) Casablanca
Occupation(s)	playwright, comedian, author, calligrapher.

Tayeb Saddiki (Arabic: الطيب الصديقي; 5 January 1939 – 5 February 2016) was a Moroccan theatre director and one of the most iconic and prominent Arab artists, and is considered among the foremost Arab dramatists of the twentieth century.^[2] Trained in classical Western theater, Saddiki also embraced traditional Moroccan theatrical styles, fusing the two into a path-breaking combination of Western and traditional Moroccan theater. Known for staging spectacles played to large crowds in big arenas, Saddiki developed a style of festive theater that became a popular in the Arab world.

He is a pioneer of Arab theater, an actor and a film director, but he was also an award-winning author writing in both Arabic and French.^[3] From a family of scholars, he was born in Essaouira and grew up in Casablanca. After training courses with André Voisin, at the age of 17 he went abroad to France to study theater at Comédie de l'Ouest - CDO, directed by Hubert Gignoux. Back in Morocco, together with the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) he founded a Workers' theater / Al Masrah Al Oummali (1957). After that, he returned to France to further study theater tecnics at the TNP -the National Popular Theater in Paris-, under the direction of Jean Vilar.

At 23, he became artistic director of the Mohamed V theater (théâtre national Mohammed-V). After that he worked as director of the municipal theater of Casablanca (théâtre municipal de Casablanca) from 1964 to 1977.^[4]

He founded several theatre companies: Firqat Saddiki / Saddiki's troupe, Al Masrah Al Jawal / Traveling theater, Masrah Ennas / People's Theater and also his own cultural center at Casablanca, Espace Tayeb Saddiki (Tayeb Saddiki's center) at the boulevard Gandhi in Casablanca. (Source : Tayeb Saddiki Foundation)

Biography^[5]

• 1953 - Stage of Dramatic Art at Maâmora (Morocco), Interpretation Award / Direction André Voisin and Charles Nugue
• 1954 - First contract with Moroccan theater troupe / la troupe du théâtre marocain, the first professional troupe in Morocco
• 1956 - Workshop at Centre Dramatique de l’Ouest – C.D.O, Rennes - Direction Hubert Gignoux
• 1957 - Works at the National Popular Theater (Théâtre National Populaire) - T.N.P in Paris, Direction Jean Vilar
• 1957-1958 - Founder of the Workers' theater (Al Masrah Al Oummali), Morocco
• 1959 - Training course at the Center Dramatique de l'Est - D.E, Direction Hubert Gignoux
• 1960 - Study Tour Berliner Ensemble - Germany, Direction Hélène Weigel - Bertolt Brecht's theatre company
• 1960 - Founder of The troupe of the Municipal Theater / (La troupe du Théâtre Municipal), Casablanca, Morocco
• 1963 - Founder of Firqat Saddiki / Saddiki's troupe, Morocco
• 1964 - Artistic director of the Mohamed V theater (théâtre national Mohammed-V), Rabat
• 1967-1969 - Member of the executive committee of Institut International du Théâtre, I.T.I – UNESCO
• 1964-1977 - Director of the municipal theater of Casablanca (théâtre municipal de Casablanca), Casablanca, Morocco
• 1970-1977 - Founder of Café-théâtre, Théâtre Municipal de Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco
• 1970 - Founder of Masrah Ennas / People's Theater, Casablanca, Morocco
• 1974 - Founder of Al Masrah Al Jawal / Traveling theater, Casablanca, Morocco
• 1980 - Founder of Essaouira Festival Music first / la musique d'abord
• 1980 - 1982 - Responsible at the Ministry of Tourism, Casablanca, Morocco
• 1984-1986 - Television is moving (Attalfaza Tataharrak), S.N.R.T, program to revamp Moroccan television programs, Morocco
• 1997 - Founder of the Espace Tayeb Saddiki (Mogador Theater), Casablanca, Morocco

Distinctions

Country	Decoration	Year
Morocco	Ouissam al-Massira / the medal of the march, awarded by the king Hassan II	1976
France	Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres / Knight of Arts and Letters	1979
France	Officier des Arts et des Lettres / Officer of Arts and Letters	1983
Tunisia	Price of the first work at Carthage Film Days (journées cinématographiques de Carthage) for his film Zeft	1984
France	Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres / Commander of Arts and Letters	1997[6]
Morocco	Ouissam al-Kafaâ al-Fikria / The Medal of Intellectual Competence, décerné par le roi Mohammed VI	2005

Works

• Theater director: more than eighty works
• Repertory: has written thirty two plays (in Arabic and French), translation and adaptation of thirty-four dramatic works, eighteen co-written works
• Actor: in about fifty plays, a dozen movies and thirty five dramatic works and television shows
• Painter Calligrapher: Exhibitions in Morocco and Tunisia, Kuwait, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, France, Canada, Belgium, Algeria ...
• Cinema: directed four short films and a movie (Zeft - 1984), wrote and directed a dozen documentaries and played in a dozen films
• Television: produced and directed for television thirty shows
• Television is moving (Attalfaza Tataharrak)": program to redesign programs of the Moroccan television SNRT (1984-1986)
• Other:
  • Participated to the researches and writing of the book: Morocco and Traditional Islamic Crafts in Architecture (Le Maroc et l'Artisanat Traditionnel Islamique dans l'Architecture / Le Paccard) - 2 volumes, Author : André Paccard, Edition: Workshop 74, 1986
  • Prefacier of the book: Mogador, my love (Mogador, mon amour), Author: Marcel Crespil, Illustrator: William Olegini, Edition: Casablanca: EDDIF, 1990
  • Illustrator of the book: Freshness of Islam (Fraîcheur de l'Islam), Author: Gabriel Bounoure (1886-1969), Edition: Saint-Clément-la-Rivière: Éditions Fata Morgana, 1995
  • Contributed to the writing of the book Moroccan Civilization, Arts and Cultures (Civilisation Marocaine, Arts et Cultures), under the direction of Mohamed Sijelmassi, editions OUM and Actes Sud / Sindbad, 1996

Cinema actor

• 1955 : Le Poulet (The Chicken), Jean Fléchet
• 1956 : Le médecin malgré lui (Toubib Al Affia), Directed by Henry Jacques, adapted from Molière, presented at Cannes festival in 1956 (official selection)
• 1957 : Brahim ou le collier de beignets (Brahim or the necklace of donuts), by Jean Fléchet, Presented at the Berlin Festival (1957)
• 1959: Loqmat Aïch (for a bite of bread), by Larbi Bennani
• 1960: Les fourberies Scapin, (Scapin the Schemer), Cinema adaptation of Molière's play (in Arabic), directed by Jean Mousselle and adapted by Mahieddine Bachtarzi Algeria, production Fred Orain : Castella Films & Armor Films
• 1962: Tartarin De Tarascon, Francis Blanche
• 1962: The children of the sun (Les enfants du soleil), Jacques Severac Cannes Film Festival of 1962 (official selection)
• 1962: Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean
• 1976: Arrissala (The Message), Mostapha Akkad
• 1977: Zenobia Queen of Palmyrene, Serie TV with Nidal Al Achkar
• 1984: Zeft (Ashphalte), by Tayeb Saddiki
• 1986: The child of the sand (L’enfant du sable), Hamid Bénani
• 1995: The Prayer of the Absentee (La prière de l’absent), Hamid Bénani
• 2001: Assir Al Matrouz (the man who embroidered secrets), Omar Chraïbi
• 2008: Voyage court mais trash (Short but trashy trip), Short film by Raja Saddiki

Scenarios and productions

Plays

• Ammi Zalt
  • Original work: Bonhomme Misère
  • Staging and dramatic rewriting : André Voisin
  • Adaptation: Ahmed Taïeb El Alj
  • Language : Arabic
• Maâlem Azzouz
  • Original work: Le Barbier de Séville, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais
  • Adaptation: Ataa Ouakil (Abdessamad Kenfaoui, Tahar Ouaâziz and Ahmed Taïeb El Alj)
  • Stage direction: André Voisin
  • Language : Arabic

References