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Q&A with Yamina Bakiri about her play ‘The Cost of Eggs’

The first event in our series from emerging Arab playwrights is The Cost of Eggs by Yamina Bakiri which will be read at The Mosaic Rooms on 11th September-buy your tickets now!
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Q1/ What inspired you to write The Cost of Eggs? Did you start writing with a character or scenario in mind?

I have a particular interest in what is happening in the Arab world and have been following the uprising in Syria closely. I have friends who were personally affected by the events taking place in Syria. One friend was arrested and for a while no one knew what had happened to him. I was of course very upset by his disappearance (he eventually was released) and could not help thinking about his mother and the pain she must have been going through. I guess this is what I had in mind when I started writing The Cost of Eggs. Eventually the characters took over and decided for themselves.

 

Q2/ Why did you decide to name it ‘The Cost of Eggs’? 

The eggs in this play symbolise life. I could have also named it “The Cost of Life”. What is the cost of a life in Syria nowadays? What do people have to go through and do to live or survive? I wrote The Cost of Eggs two years ago. If I had to rewrite it today, I would be more pessimistic.

 

Q3/ You are a neuroscientist, what made you start writing?

As a scientist, you are many things: you are curious, you have a good sense of observation, you are able to bring the pieces of the puzzle together, and you are a bit pedantic. If you add to that a broad imagination and some storytelling skills you definitely become a writer. But to start writing you need inspiration (and discipline). I am lucky enough to be surrounded with inspiring people whose stories I feel deserve to be told. I listen to them and, with a bit of artistic license, bring them back to life.

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