We were talking about the state of theaters in Egypt when Professor Tawfiq al-Hakim told me that he envisions dedicating the national theater to presenting the heritage of the Egyptian theater throughout the year so that this heritage remains alive and present. Just as museums preserve historical monuments, the national theater must preserve theatrical antiquities. Years passed and Tawfiq al-Hakim passed away, and the problem became not only in not keeping his theatrical heritage alive on stage, but in the lack of it even as a printed text. He was told that it had run out and had not been reprinted for years. From there, I was pleased with the project of Dar Al-Shorouk to republish the complete works of the father of the Arab theater, Tawfiq Al-Hakim. Nations do not grow or prosper except to the extent that their heritage is present in their present. Otherwise, their contract will be broken and they will lose their past and future together, in history and in politics as in literature and in the arts. Mohamed Salmawy