Although he passed away on July 26 at the age of 69 after battling illness, Ziad Rahbani remains present through his works and artistic legacy. He is a unique artistic phenomenon who combined music, drama, and satirical writing with a bold critical vision. He is considered an extension of the Rahbani originality and the third cultural pillar after his parents, having reshaped the identity of Arab theater and music in a very special style.

The Rahbani theater, especially Ziad’s contributions, was featured in a research paper presented by Lebanese researcher Anne Marie Salameh titled “Transformations of Rahbani Theater Between Idealism and Realism and the Influence of the Nurturing Environment,” during the “Contemporary Theatrical Experiences” symposium held on Wednesday morning at the Supreme Council of Culture at Cairo Opera House, as part of the 32nd edition of the Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival.

The researcher studied and analyzed the trajectory of Lebanese theater and its major transformations through the models of the Rahbani Brothers’ theater and Ziad Rahbani’s theater.

Anne Marie Salameh emphasized that theater reflects the issues of its environment. In Lebanon, a country of cultural, sectarian, political, and social diversity, theater mirrored these complex intersections. The theatrical experiences embodied this changing reality, with the most prominent example being the dialectical relationship between the Rahbani Brothers’ theater and Ziad Rahbani’s theater.

She explained that the diverse Lebanese audience allowed for the emergence of various types of plays, from popular musical theater to political critical theater, to comedy, and finally to chanson-style theater in which Ziad Rahbani excelled.

She added: “The Rahbani Brothers presented an idealistic, dreamy theater that elevates the value of the homeland, whereas Ziad Rahbani’s theater offered a new discourse—realistic, shocking, and satirical—that reflects the internal collapse and contradictions of Lebanese society.”

Regarding the transformations of Rahbani theater, she said: “The Rahbani Brothers offered an idealistic vision of Lebanon, a poetic vision that celebrates the homeland and humans as sacred, while Ziad Rahbani presented a realistic, sometimes satirical vision that sees the homeland as exhausted and humans as fragile, not as legendary heroes. The Rahbani Brothers used a poetic classical Arabic language close to myth, whereas Ziad relied on everyday spoken language close to the people, making his theater more connected to the political and social reality.”

She continued: “This shift from idealism to realism was not just a stylistic transition but a reflection of the transformations of Lebanese society itself, which moved from the dream of an ideal state to the shock of civil war and internal divisions.”

Anne Marie Salameh concluded her intervention by emphasizing that theater in Lebanon has always been an act of life, not just cultural luxury. It is a mirror of its environment, reflecting its contradictions and transformations, influencing and influenced by it. Through comparing the Rahbani Brothers’ theater and Ziad Rahbani’s theater, we can see how Lebanese theater became a space for expressing crises and multiple identities, and an open field for experimentation and renewal.