One evening in May, I was scrolling through my Facebook page to find an alarming status update from a friend, Adel, from one of our theatre classes at the Jesuit community centre: “They captured Ezz. He is now detained in Heliopolis police station, and soon they will get the rest of us.”
Ezz was another friend of mine that went to the same theatre class, and I soon learned through his Facebook page that he was arrested over charges of publishing offensive videos and attempts to topple the regime. I had seen a few of their YouTube selfie-style videos—shot using a mobile phone camera—that the group used as satirical theatrical performances to make fun of different things in Egyptian society, such as religious radio shows, childhood songs, or the military regime. This group is made up of six young artists (19-25 years), most of whom I’ve met through the theatre classes, who were passionate about arts and theatre. They believed they could discuss anything—even things they can’t normally discuss in everyday life—on stage or through performance. They formed a troupe, called themselves street children, and had a Facebook page with over 300,000 followers, where they posted their videos.
A day or two after I saw that Facebook post, Adel was indeed detained as predicted—along with the other four group members—for 15 days pending investigations into charges of using YouTube videos to incite violence and acts of terrorism. Over the next five months, their detention was continuously renewed, with a total number of 105 pre-trial detention days. Activists took to social media to support the troupe, since protesting in the streets was prohibited at that time. A social media campaign soon took off, called, “Does this phone camera scare you?” Supporters posted selfie photos on social media with their mobile phones to ridicule the regime’s fear of satire. Many well-known Egyptian artists, journalists, and politicians participated in the campaign.
