In the presence of a remarkable audience, and coinciding with the World Cup, which begins tomorrow, Sunday, the performances of the play “The Philosopher”, which was launched yesterday on the stage of Studio 1, continue in Boulevard Riyadh City to bring back to the audience the memories of the first participation of the Saudi national team in the World Cup, when Al-Thunayan was among the team.
The large public turnout was positively reflected in the scenes of the play, through which the prominent interaction of the audience with the events of the show is evident due to its association with the career of the star of the Saudi national team and Al-Hilal Club, Yousuf Al-Thunayan, who was a Saudi football icon in the 1980s-1990s. The play dramatizes human challenges and sporting details that the philosopher of football fields faced and experienced during his sports career.
Al-Thunayan achieved 28 championships throughout his career, 3 of them with the Saudi national team, and 25 championships with his club Al-Hilal. He also won many awards, the most important of which was the award for the best Asian player in the 1986 Asian Club Championship. He was very popular with Saudi football fans, and number 15 in Al-Hilal Club had a special association with his name.
“The Philosopher” is the first Saudi play to present the concept of biographies, which is one of the concepts of international theatres, where the events are inspired by the lives of historically famous personalities.
The role of Yousuf Al-Thunayan is played by the actor Ahmed Yaqoub, with whom the audience interacted a lot in most of the scenes that brought back to their memories the international contributions of Al-Thunayan with the Saudi national team and Al-Hilal, as well as the fun spirit that characterizes Al-Thunayan.
The success of the play, which was written by Faisal Al-Amer and directed by Aqil Al-Khamisi, is partly due to the use of elaborate audiovisual presentation techniques, in addition to the dramatic performance to convey the details with high professionalism.
“The Philosopher” continues until November 30. It is the fifth play to be shown within the activities of Riyadh Season 2022. The show starts at 7:30 pm until 9:30 pm, and tickets are available through the link:
https://ticketmx.riyadhseason.sa/en/d/2392/the-philosopher