In light of the current circumstances related to the emergence of the Coronavirus and aiming to benefit from the home quarantine period, the program entitled, “Stay at Home”, has been launched. The program is delivered every day at exactly 1:30 a.m. after midnight, Saudi time, on the YouTube platform known as LIVE NOW.

In an episode on the Saudi theater, His Excellency Dr. Faisal Al-Muteib, Professor of Drama, was hosted at Umm Al-Qura University. Dr. Faisal started his talk with a briefing on the history of the theater, in the past and nowadays, after dividing the topic into two sections. He said that the Arab theater was in partial absence and retardation during the modern era.

Among the most important points that Dr. Faisal stated was that, in the past, the Arabs held different views over the presence of the theater. He said that the Arabs learned about the theater from Greece, acquiring ingenuity and theatrical creativity.

According to Dr. Faisal, among the reasons that caused the delay in the Arab theater was the Arabs' habit of not staying at one set place, as they frequently and constantly wandered from one location to another; however, at the same time they remained, and still continue to be, creative in poetry. His Excellency Dr. Faisal indicated that the first to introduce the theater into the Arabic culture was the Lebanese Maroun Al-Naqash. Afterwards, continued efforts in theatrical creativity began in Egypt, being an attractive place for many people.

The presenters of the program also shed light on one of the most important topics of the episode: the playwright Saadallah Wanous and his relationship to the Arab theater. His Excellency Dr. Faisal, who had previously presented the playwright in his academic research for a doctorate and who was among the critics who studied Saadallah Wanous in the publication "Critical Analysis of Criticism", answered that Saadallah Wanous presented the absurd and epic theater as well as other theatrical forms. His Excellency Dr. Faisal expressed his great love for the creativity of Saadallah Wanous. Next, he touched on the subject of the Saudi theater, emphasizing that during the early days the theater in Saudi Arabia was weak and that the role of theater in schools helped the emergence of theater in Saudi Arabia. The guest of the episode mentioned that the first theatrical text was delivered in the year 1932 by the poet Hussain Siraj, with the title, "Oppressing Oneself". Several years later the poet wrote a text entitled, "Jameel and Buthaina". Among the most important points stated by His Excellency Dr. Faisal for the major reasons behind the long absence of the Saudi theater was the lack of playwrights, and that was why the theater was weak at the beginning. Dr. Faisal said that the strength of the text of the play forms the essence of the theater; without a strong text, the Saudi theater and other works cannot develop.

At the end of the episode, a talk was given about the aspects that must be focused on to develop the Saudi theater. Finally, His Excellency Dr. Faisal praised the institutions that helped improve the Saudi theater, and indicated that King Abdulaziz University will also launch a master's program in theater literature in order to develop this theater. His Excellency Dr. Faisal also stressed the importance of attracting well-known names in the world of theater, as this may significantly contribute to increasing the awareness of young people and their love for the theater, and help promote contributions in this field.

It is noteworthy that Professor Saif Al-Zahrani and Mr. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman both presented the program, with the help of the creative director of the program, Prof. Ibrahim Mujamami, and the program coordinators, Khalid Al-Sharif, Hassan, and Muhammad Al-Zubaidi.