Prompter: The actor’s partner

Have you ever asked yourself how could theater actors memorize all their roles? All of their success goes back to a very important person who remains behind the scenes, that is the “prompter”.

The prompter has been one of the most influential factors in theaters over past years. His role is to remind the actors of their sentences and performances during the show. The funny thing is that some actors had practiced this profession at the beginning of their careers.

The prompter’s main role requires them to precede the actor and not stumble behind. It also requires articulating the sentences clearly in a whispering and faint voice. In the past, the actor needed a teleprompter because the theater group used to present many plays in one season, and the actor played a role in each of the season’s plays.

The prompter used to sit in a designed slot on the stage floor called “the prompter’s box” which is commonly known in Egyptian theater as “the kambusha”.

One of the amusing stories about this fading profession occurred in 1969 during the preparation for My Fair Lady performance starring the famous Egyptian actor Fouad El Mohandes. Noha Barada who was the production designer suggested to add several meters to Al Hurya theater stage due to its small area, so “the kambusha” became in the middle of the stage. Unfortunately, neither the prompters nor the actors were satisfied with these changes, so it was suggested to remove it completely. However, Fouad El Mohandesrefused this suggestion despite his ability to memorize his role and rarely needing the help of a prompter.

Fouad El Mohandes justified his decision by saying that the prompter is the actor’s partner, and that he personally feels reassured by his presence, in anticipation of any surprises.

If you want to know more interesting stories about this profession, and how the prompter used to do it, go and visit some of Egypt’s oldest theaters in downtown Cairo.

Translated by: Maryam hany salah mohamed deghedy

Edited by: Hania Abdullah Abdelsatar