Government Lifts Ban On ‘Insulting’ Play

Censors have allowed a play to reopen, three days after banning it for allegedly insulting the government, the play’s author said Sunday.

Mahmoud el-Toukhy said he believed President Hosni Mubarak had intervened to cancel the ban on performances of “Greetings My Masters.”

“We were allowed to reopen Saturday night, and I think the decision came straight from the president after everyone sent telegrams of protest to him,” el-Toukhy said.

The play, which won critical acclaim, depicts an ordinary citizen’s attempt to run for president of Egypt. It breaks with tradition in that it mentions Cabinet ministers and Mubarak by name.