Abu Khalil Qabbani

Abu Khalil Qabbani (أبو خليل القباني / ALA-LC: Abū Khalīl al-Qabbānī; 1835–1902) was a Syrian playwright and composer of Turkish origin. Active as a pioneer of Arab theatre at the time of the Arab nahda movement in Damascus and Cairo, Qabbani has been called the "Father of Syrian theatre", and has influenced later generations of playwrights and actors. Further, he introduced short musical plays (similar to an operetta) in Arabic theatre and worked to establish a theatre district in Damascus.

Biography
Qabbani used to give female roles in his plays to younger boys with high pitched voices, because women were not allowed to act in theatre at his time. His play Abu al-Hassan al-Mughaffal caused a wave of protest because of his mockery of the historical Caliph Harun al-Rashid. This enraged religious authorities, who sent a delegation to complain to the Ottoman caliph in Istanbul. Following this, the authorities closed down Qabbani's theatre, the only avant-garde theatre in the region, and prevented theatrical performances in the Ottoman province of Syria. After that, Qabbani left for Egypt and produced his plays there until 1900. Two years after his return to Syria, he died in 1902.

Notable relatives
Abu Khalil Qabbani's brother was the grandfather of the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani and the diplomat Sabah Qabbani. Other notable relatives include British cultural historian Rana Kabbani of Syrian descent and her daughter, the writer and literary translator Yasmine Seale.

Reception
Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous wrote a play called Evening with Abu Khalil Qabbani, and Khairy Alzahaby represented him in the epic series Abu Khalil Qabbani. Syrian cultural historian Taissier Khalaf published a book about al-Qabbani's visit in the United States in 1989 as well as about Qabbani's style of theatre.