On Wednesday, Feb. 18, North Central College visiting professor of arts and letters, Riad Ismat presented “Theatre and Diplomacy: A Lecture by Professor Riad Ismat.”
Riad Ismat is currently the scholar-in-residence at the college for the 2014-2015 academic year. During his time at the college, Ismat is teaching courses in playwriting, acting and directing.
Before coming to the college, Ismat has done several other noteworthy things throughout his career. For five-and-a-half years Ismat served as the Syrian ambassador to Pakistan and Qatar, served as Syrian minister of culture from 2010-2012, and has 34 books to his name. Besides being involved in politics, Ismat also has a background in theater. He was the director-general of State Radio & TV, director of Syria’s Academy of Dramatic Arts, and has also directed and adapted plays.
The event was held in Smith Hall and was the third of four globalization events for winter term.
While the audience filed in, they were welcomed with Syrian music playing through the speakers. The music was by a Syrian music group that will be visiting campus in May.
Smith Hall was packed with very few open seats visible. A mix of students, faculty and other guests were in attendance, but the audience mostly appeared to be students.
Ismat opened up his presentation with a quote from William Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”
Shakespeare’s quote was an opening that focused in on Ismat’s presentation. Ismat focused on how he intertwined his passion of theater and diplomacy throughout his political career and continued even after.
One of the first ties he made between the two is the role of a political figure to an actor.
“In diplomacy, there is a lot of acting,” said Ismat.
He stated that all political figures, just like actors, wear a mask and play different roles throughout their careers. They must become an image that the public views them in and learn how to act upon that. As an ambassador to Syria, he had to take an oath and swear that he would serve his country to the fullest and represent it well.
“Diplomacy is not a road well-paved and surrounded by flowers. It’s full of hardship, stones and thorns,” said Ismat.
One of the struggles that Ismat overcame when he became an ambassador was losing his name. As an actor and in the theater, he had a name to himself; he was an individual. However, as an ambassador he lost his name and became a nameless representation of his country. This was a struggle for him because he lost his original name and became known as only “his excellency.”
“One has to be systematic in his work in order to reach his objective, his goal,” said Ismat.
This was something he learned from theatre and tried to apply it in his diplomatic role as ambassador. For example, he saw that if politicians wanted to change the people and their opinions, they must adapt the people’s minds through the power of TV, literature and film, persuading people through the arts.
Throughout the course of the presentation, Ismat pulled together the topics he discussed and related them to different experiences that he had throughout his life. It was almost like a small performance itself. Each person he mentioned in his stories seemed to have their own personalities and voices that he created and he acted out each story as if being on stage.
Ismat also focused on the rise of terrorism in Pakistan, the time he left his role as ambassador, and numerous plays that he wrote throughout his time in and out of the political world.
Ismat closed his presentation and left the audience with these words: “This is what I want to be remembered for, not someone by the name of ‘his excellency.’”
