With their genuine colloquial Lebanese, their tenacious commitment to preserve Lebanese popular traditions and folklore, the Rahbani Brother’s theatre managed to save a precious heritage and helped make their diva interpreter Fairouz one of the most famous 20th century singer in the Arab World. Her short songs combined traditional and popular musical influences, setting them apart from the long repetitious songs in the colloquial Egyptian that were the order of the day. While the Rahbani Brothers’ musical theatre was conceived and performed in colloquial Lebanese, most of the research on the topic carried out so far is in Arabic and their works have become vulnerable to misrepresentations by Western scholars. This article aims into illustrating and partially translating one of the Rahbani’s operetta, namely, al-Chakhs / al-Shakhs (The Puppet Person).
