Allalou

Allalou
Born	Ali Sellali (1902-03-30)March 30, 1902 Algiers, Algeria
Died	February 19, 1992(1992-02-19) (aged 89) Algiers, Algeria
Nationality	Algerian
Occupation(s)	Playwright, singer

Allalou (March 30, 1902 – February 19, 1992) was an Algerian playwright, theatre director and actor known as the father of Algerian theater.

Early life

Allalou was born Ali Sellali on March 3, 1902, in the Casbah of Algiers.

Biography

Allalou who lost his father early began at the age of thirteen to work to support his family. He successively practiced jobs as pharmacy clerk, bookseller and tramway worker. His interest in the artistic representation manifested itself early. At the age of fifteen, he began frequenting the Foyer du soldat where he played skits and sang songs (he was a visionary and eccentric comic singer), becoming accustomed to venues. He precociously became familiar with drama. He attended galas Karsenty and performances by Georges Abiad and Azzedine's Egyptian theatre companies in the early twenties. This encounter with theater gave him the idea to produce plays. He thus began to produce sketches which dealt with subjects drawn primarily from everyday life: marriage, divorce, alcoholism. These themes were also included in the plays staged after 1926. Contacts with European and especially Edmond Yafil, a great connoisseur of Algerian classical music who devoted his life to the development of this art, made him understand and appreciate music.

Allalou died on February 19, 1992, in Algiers.

Plays

• Djeha (1926)
• Zouadj Bou 'Akline (1926)
• One Thousand and One Nights (1930, 1931)

Bibliography

• Sellali, Ali (2004) [1982]. L'aurore du théâtre algérien (1926-1930) (in French). Oran: Dar el Gharb. p. 119.
• Sellali, Ali (1986). De la musique andalouse au théâtre (in French). Paris: L'Internationale de l'imaginaire nº5.