We were discussing the situation of theaters in Egypt when Professor Tawfiq Al-Hakim told me that he hoped to dedicate the National Theater to preserving Egyptian theater heritage throughout the year, so that this heritage could remain alive and present. Just as museums preserve historical artifacts, the National Theater should also preserve theatrical heritage. Time passed, and Tawfiq Al-Hakim passed away. The problem became not only that his theatrical heritage wasn’t preserved on stage, but also that it wasn’t even available as printed materials. A former Arab Minister of Culture complained that he searched libraries in Cairo for some of Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s plays to complete his collection. He was told that those plays had run out of stock, and hadn’t been reprinted for years. Thus, I was delighted to be involved in the Sharq Publishing and Distribution project, which aims to republish all of Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s works. Nations cannot grow or thrive unless their heritage remains alive in the present day. Otherwise, their past and future are lost. This applies to history, politics, literature, and art. Muhammad Salmawi