In one of the oldest neighborhoods of the historic city of Tangier in northern Morocco, there is the ancient Cervantes Theater, which is a rare cultural landmark that testifies to a long artistic history experienced by the city, which has a distinctive view of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

But the theater remained for nearly half a century neglected in a dark and lonely building that lacked lighting and its walls were supported by wooden columns and broken and piled chairs, but it had a lacy facade, with a unique aesthetic yellow stele that reads “Cervantes Theater 1913”, referring to the year in which it was built.

Tangier witnessed cultural diversity at the beginning of the 20th century when Morocco was divided into a protection zone belonging to French colonialism and another belonging to Spanish colonialism, while Tangier became an international zone subject to Britain, France and Spain.

A history longer than a century

In the midst of this mixing, a Spanish family established the "Cervantes" or "Cervantes" theater as it is spoken in Spanish, and it opened in 1913, when musical performances and concerts were held on it, and it became one of the largest theaters in North Africa, but with the advent of 1928 the Spanish couple, the owners of the project, Esperanca Oriana and Manuel decided Peña ceded it to Spain in the person of the then Consul General.

The theater building overlooked the sea before it was obscured by modern buildings, and it witnessed the height of its cultural activities in the fifties of the last century, until it became old and stopped its activity in the mid-seventies.

And on the first of March 2023, it was officially transferred to the Kingdom of Morocco, according to an agreement with Spain, stipulating that its ownership would not be transferred to a third party, with Morocco pledging to bear all the costs of restoration, renovation, maintenance, and preserving the name of the theater.

The engineer in charge of restoring, maintaining and rebuilding this theater, Tawfik Murabit, told Reuters, "Restoration requires very great capabilities and competencies. We will try as much as possible to preserve the privacy of this theater and preserve its museum character... It has been neglected for 50 years, and it is difficult to return to its former state without changing".

The claim to restore the theater dates back to the 1990s, and Rashid Taversiti, head of the "Bugaz" association, said in a previous report to Al Jazeera Net that "an association comprising Moroccans and Spaniards was established with the aim of developing a scientific study and budget for restoring the theater and we discussed it at the time with the Spanish Consul General, but the cases of political tension experienced by the two countries I didn't care about him."

Modern architecture

Murabit spoke about the peculiarities of this historical building, and said that the theater, which was built by the famous Spanish architect Diego Jimenez, was designed “in an engineering manner that was prevalent in the 19th century, called (R Novo) or Art Nouveau, and it is a sequel to classical architecture, with a forward-looking look at the future, according to what he said. It was prevalent in Europe at that time.

The engineer in charge of the restoration said, "This Italian-style theater consists of 3 levels: the reception courtyard, and the second level is the place where the largest number of spectators is available. It has doors and stairs of up to 8, and 9 balconies, in addition to the high level on two facades with 10 balconies on each side." ".

The engineer, Jimenez, who founded the building, had used reinforced concrete, which was in the process of being tested at the time, and excelled in merging gypsum and ceramics with high craftsmanship.

Senior artists supervised the construction of the theater at that time, such as Federico Ribera, who came specially from Paris to paint the ceiling drawings, and Candio Matta, who designed the interior and exterior sculptures.

As for the background curtains, it was accomplished by the Italian painter and scenographer Giorgio Busato (1836-1917), known for his work in the most important Spanish theaters. He also designed the scenography for the premiere of the opera Aida in Cairo on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1871.

Murabet said that the theater's drawings are "inspired by Greek mythology, with a touch of a Moroccan touch; pictures of young men wearing red Moroccan fez and traditional Moroccan musical instruments."

Perhaps the most prominent characteristic of the theater is "the specificity of its stage, which has the character of theatrical stages that existed in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries."

Murabit added that the plank had collapsed, "We will rebuild it... Its specificity is also represented in the so-called Iron Curtain, which is rare in our time, as it is found in a few theaters in England and Spain and another in Latin America."

The engineer Murabit explains the importance of this curtain in that it is an iron curtain that was designed to close the stage from the audience in the event of a fire, as the lighting at the time of the construction of the theater was by candles.

restoration

Regarding the restoration and rehabilitation plans that will take 3 years, Murabet said, "Of course, in the restoration, we will preserve all these characteristics. The goal is to preserve the components of the theater, restore its facades, and enable the operation of all its components."

He added that restarting the Iron Curtain "requires mechanisms that no longer exist and a very great effort," noting that the goal is to operate the theater, but not with the capacity it originally had.

He explained that the capacity of the theater was 750 spectators, and it often exceeded it to a thousand. "The theater will include activities, that is true, but they are not large activities in number, but rather in heritage symbolism."

Several partners are working together to restore and rehabilitate the theater. In addition to the Ministry of Culture and local authorities, there is the Northern Regions Development Agency, the Studies Office, and the Heritage Buildings Preservation Agency.

In addition to preserving the heritage aspect of the building, those in charge of restoration work will have to add a modern character, such as civil protection, and some of the specifics of contemporary theater, such as lighting.

It will be a heritage theatre, dedicated to embracing ancient classic plays such as the works of the French Molière, the English Shakespeare and the Spanish Cervantes.

Yunus al-Sheikh, a researcher in heritage, especially the heritage of the city of Tangier, valued the transfer of ownership of the theater to the Moroccan state and its restart.

"This is an added value to the city of Tangiers," he told Reuters. "The reopening of this theater would enhance the cultural scene and give a beautiful picture of the rich history and universal civilization of Tangiers."