The Play's the Thing

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"It allows people to exercise a kind of hour of hate, or whatever George Orwell called it," said the drama critic for Egypt's largest newspaper, explaining the popularity of "a harshly anti-American show" called "Messing with the Mind." The writer, director and star, Khaled al-Sawy, said: "Most plays just weep about our general situation... I felt people wanted a play that talks about resisting." The U.S. TV network broadcasting to the Middle East, Al-Hurra, is satirized in one scene where George Bush, on "Democracy Television," says: "We just want to clean you up, make you human beings." Another scene features a CNN reporter gushing: "Our boys have entered Umm Qasr, and everybody was hugging them and ululating."