Biography

Slimane Benaïssa (in Arabic: سليمان بنعيسى), born on December 11, 1943, in Guelma in eastern Algeria, he is one of the pioneers of Algerian Popular Theater, but above all an internationally recognized director. Slimane Benaïssa's two sons, Mehdi Benaïssa and Khaled Benaïssa, also practice an artistic discipline.

However, his university career is not, a priori, that of a literary person, he began studying Mathematics before doing his military service in 1965 in Cherchell. The ruins of the Roman theater of ancient Caesarea in Mauritania (now Cherchell) will have more resonance in him than the bugle of the military barracks, he then began a career in theater in 1967. At that time, he wrote Boualem Zid El Goudem (Boualem goes forward), at the same time as he co-directed the first amateur theater troupe in Algeria, "Théâtre et Culture".

Close to Kateb Yacine, he adapted La Poudre d'Intelligence for the theater, this work will continue with the translation into dialectal Arabic of all his work, with in particular a collaboration for the dialectal formatting of Mohamed Prends Ta Valise (which will tour in France in 1970 and 1971), Palestine Trahie, Le Roi de l'Ouest and La Guerre De Deux Mille Ans.

In 1978 he created his own independent theatre company in Algeria, within which he staged Boualem Zid El Goudem, then Youm El Djem'a (Friday), El Mahgour (The Contempt), Babour Ghraq (The Sinking Boat), which was performed more than 500 times in less than six years, and Rak Khouya Ou Ana Chkoune? (Beyond the Veil).

Since its creation, the troupe has performed more than 1,200 times in Algeria and abroad (France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Kuwait, Malta, Tunisia). After more than twenty years of theatre activity in his country, Slimane Benaïssa was forced to go into exile in France in 1993.

The same year he won the Grand Prix Francophone from the Société des Auteurs et des Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD). From 1995 to 1997, he was an associate professor at the Faculty of Letters at the University of Limoges and supervised internships in Luxembourg (1995), Dijon (2003) and Massilly (2004). His first novel "Le Fils De L'Amertume", published by Plon, was a great success. Adapted for the theater on the occasion of the Avignon Festival by the GRAT company of Jean-Louis Hourdin, the play was revived at the MC93 Bobigny before undertaking an impressive tour in France and Switzerland.

Following this success, Slimane Benaïssa was appointed in 2000 by the President of the French Republic as a member of the High Council of the Francophonie. The show Prophète Sans Dieu was programmed at the Théâtre International de Langue Française (TILF) in Paris. After a tour, the play was presented at the 2001 Avignon Festival.

In 2005, he became an honorary Doctor of the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO). The text Au-delà Du Voile was republished by Lansman in 2008 and staged at the Avignon Festival by Agnès Renault of the company the Arcade.