Written and directed by Mohamed El-Mohammady, the hit theatrical production Khayal Mareed (Sick Imagination) blends psychodrama, live music and audience interaction to explore social prejudices, personal obsessions and the contradictions of contemporary life through satire and comedy.
“The play is the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king,” declares Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. This iconic line captures the power of theatre within theatre as a dramatic device, enabling hidden truths to emerge and exposing wrongdoing through performance.
Shakespeare employed this technique in several of his tragedies, using embedded performances to advance the main narrative and reveal the truth behind unfolding events. Molière later adopted a similar approach in his comedies, creating misunderstandings and humorous situations that ultimately lead to revelation and resolution.
Beyond its theatrical appeal, the play-within-a-play concept has also found applications in psychology. During the 20th century, psychodrama developed it into a therapeutic approach, enabling individuals to revisit difficult experiences, confront emotional conflicts and work through personal trauma.
Building on this relationship between performance and real life, Khayal Mareed, written and directed by Mohamed El-Mohammady, offers audiences an entertaining theatrical experience featuring Hesham Maged, Hanady Mehanna and Mohamed Abdel-Rahman.
Since its premiere in July 2026, the production has enjoyed successive runs at Teatro Arkan in Sheikh Zayed and the City of Arts and Culture in the New Administrative Capital. It has now returned to Teatro Arkan, welcoming audiences once again.
Inside a Psychiatric Hospital: When Therapy Becomes Theatre
The story unfolds inside a psychiatric hospital, where Dr Taha, portrayed by Hesham Maged, introduces a psychodrama experiment in an attempt to help his patients overcome their psychological struggles. His approach involves asking each patient to reenact an episode from their past, allowing them to confront the experiences and conflicts that continue to affect their lives.
Before the performance gets underway, the audience receives an unusual request: “Please be patient. If what you are watching makes you want to laugh, try to hold back. Please do not applaud or shout either.”
The instruction sets the tone for a production that deliberately plays with the boundaries between comedy, psychological drama and audience expectations.
El-Mohammady, a playwright and screenwriter with a background in comedy, builds the show around eccentric characters and relies on performers with strong comic timing to bring their stories to life.
The hospital becomes home to a colourful collection of characters dealing with psychological disorders, personal obsessions and unresolved trauma. They include a narcissistic blogger, a misogynist and a woman who believes she is the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum. The latter is portrayed by Nagm Saleh, whose remarkable voice adds a distinctive musical dimension to the performance.
Through these characters, the production examines contemporary social problems influenced by patriarchy, conservatism and the growing impact of social media. Their experiences expose deeply rooted attitudes and contradictions, often pushing them to absurd extremes to provoke laughter while encouraging audiences to reconsider familiar social norms.
Although some comic sequences occasionally extend beyond their natural rhythm, and certain role reversals lean towards exaggeration, the production maintains its entertaining appeal through its unconventional characters and lively theatrical approach.
Music, Movement and Audience Interaction
One of the production’s defining strengths is El-Mohammady’s original stage direction, which combines visual elements, music and physical movement to create an engaging theatrical experience.
The relatively simple stage sets are enhanced by carefully designed projections that facilitate transitions between scenes and locations, moving seamlessly between the psychiatric hospital, the theatre and other settings.
Initially, black-and-white photographs and paintings dominate the backgrounds, reflecting the patients’ traumatic experiences and symbolising the loss of the human spirit. These visual elements evolve during key scenes, including the misogynist’s wedding, portrayed by Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, and the sequence set in the illusionist’s house, featuring Hanady Mehanna.
At times, three-dimensional projections add further visual depth, enriching the stage design and introducing additional layers of meaning to the narrative.
Live music is another central component of the production. Two musicians accompany the actors throughout the show, strengthening its rhythm and adding comic effects to various situations. Their appearances frequently become part of the humour, with Dr Taha often attempting to send them away whenever a patient begins describing their problems.
From deliberately sentimental musical passages to sudden, loud instrumental sounds, the musicians contribute to the production’s playful atmosphere and unconventional comic timing.
The show also features new arrangements of popular songs, incorporating Arabic lyrics that give familiar musical pieces a fresh theatrical character.
Hanady Mehanna delivers a commanding stage presence, while several dance sequences inject additional energy and movement into the performance.
Behind the scenes, El-Mohammady remains actively involved in the visual execution of the show, operating the projections and controlling lighting colours, props and smaller stage elements that actors incorporate into their performances.
Audience participation is woven into the production from the opening moments, gradually transforming spectators from passive observers into part of the theatrical experience.
Following a cheerful resolution, the performers step down from the stage and interact directly with the audience, inviting them to clap along to the song Zay El-Fol (Everything Is Fine).
Hesham Maged then takes the interaction a step further, encouraging spectators to join the performers on stage and showcase their hidden talents.
Ultimately, Khayal Mareed offers more than a conventional comedy. By combining psychodrama, music, movement and direct audience engagement, the production uses laughter as a means of examining social attitudes, exposing personal contradictions and exploring the thin line between imagination and reality.
