The Truth Perspective: Sudanese Drama… The Question of Re-Establishment
Ibrahim Shaglawi
On Monday, the Sudanese Women Dramatists Union issued a statement warning against granting the title of “actor” or “actress” through social media platforms without professional credentials. The statement affirmed that acting is a profession founded on talent, training, and professional recognition, while announcing legal measures to protect the profession. The statement reveals a broader crisis that extends beyond trade union affairs to the future of Sudan’s cultural architecture and the role of institutions that produce public consciousness during the post-war reconstruction of the state.
In my view, the significance of this warning does not stop at the boundaries of the dramatic community. Rather, it reflects a transformation that has affected the cultural and artistic sphere over recent years. The war has not only weakened the state’s infrastructure, but has also undermined the creative institutions that once produced culture, granted recognition, and shaped intellectual elites—from schools and universities to theaters, newspapers, and professional unions. In this vacuum, digital platforms have expanded to become the most influential space in shaping public taste, manufacturing fame, and conferring social recognition.
We previously addressed this phenomenon in The Truth Perspective in the article Digital Triviality… The Dilemma of Values, where we argued that the most dangerous outcome of the digital economy was not the expansion of the space for expression, but rather the restructuring of the value system itself. The criterion of appreciation shifted from competence to visibility, from knowledge to sensationalism, and from achievement to the manufacture of attention. Today, this crisis appears to have reached the field of drama. The issue is no longer about individuals presenting themselves as actors, but about a new system redefining the meaning of “actor” and the standards of professional recognition.
Drama, by its very nature, is not merely an entertainment activity or a factory for celebrity. It is a social institution for the production of ideas. It is the art that transforms human experience into narrative and presents society to itself through character, story, and image. For this reason, Sudanese drama was never merely a collection of works shown on television screens or theater stages; it was one of the instruments for shaping national consciousness, consolidating values, strengthening identity, and producing collective memory.
Therefore, defending the acting profession should not be understood as defending a privilege, but rather as defending the field of drama and the principles upon which it stands. Like every field of knowledge, art can only flourish through professionalism, training, accumulation of experience, and criticism. When digital fame becomes a substitute for these standards, the crisis affects not only the profession itself, but also society’s ability to distinguish between value and noise, and between genuine creativity and mere pretense.
However, placing the entire responsibility for this transformation on digital platforms alone would be an oversimplification. Platforms do not create the vacuum; they merely invest in it. The real crisis lies in the deterioration of the institutional structure of Sudanese drama, weak production, the absence of theatrical seasons, the declining role of artistic institutes, the retreat of criticism, and the lack of meaningful government action to formulate a serious cultural policy that views drama as a national industry rather than a marginal activity.
Returning to the discussions that have taken place within the dramatic community over recent years regarding the reform of professional unions and the convening of a comprehensive conference to reassess the history of the crisis while establishing new leadership and a modern professional vision reveals that the question of reform is not new. It is a long-postponed question that has continued to search for the political will to embrace it. From this perspective, the statement issued by the Sudanese Women Dramatists Union can be read as an attempt to restore the prestige of the professional institution—not in confrontation with specific individuals, but against the collapse of the standards upon which the artistic field is built.
From a political perspective, the issue extends beyond the cultural sphere to the question of the state itself. Countries emerging from war do not merely rebuild their physical institutions; they also reclaim their national narrative. Guns may end wars, but they cannot, by themselves, rebuild trust or the collective conscience. Here, drama emerges as an instrument of soft power, capable of transforming pain into memory, experience into story, and difference into dialogue.
For this reason, today’s battle is not merely one of reconstruction, but also one of restoring standards and the capacity to produce meaning. A state that regains its geographical borders while leaving its cultural space to algorithms remains incapable of completing its national project, because the narratives that are not created by society and its institutions will inevitably be created by others.
From this perspective, the re-establishment of drama becomes part of the broader project of rebuilding the state. The issue is not about protecting the title of “actor,” but about building the environment that produces artists through education, production, funding, criticism, and media, while establishing professional institutions capable of protecting and advancing the profession. The media, too, is a partner in shaping public consciousness.
When it replaces criticism with promotion and prioritizes view counts over quality, it contributes to weakening public taste and deepening the crisis.
According to #The_Truth_Perspective, the statement of the Sudanese Women Dramatists Union goes beyond protecting the acting profession to defending the future of Sudanese soft power. The reconstruction of Sudan cannot be completed by rebuilding physical spaces alone, but also by restoring the institutions that produce consciousness and safeguard values. At this historic moment, Sudanese drama does not merely need to preserve its past; it needs to re-establish its future as an instrument for shaping identity and building peace.
Wishing you continued health and well-being.
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
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