There seems to be a hide-and-seek game between the artist and censorship. The heavier the censorship gets, the faster the artist finds ways to escape it. Artists believe that all these forms of censorship are only attempts to silence them on any ground. This, in turn, compels them to find new ways of expression. What censors do not realise is that strict censorship, "can serve instead to spur new artistic innovation. It does this by binding the targeted group together in such a way that the new artistic work they produce con tains a richness of understanding that greater reveals, rather than hides, their voices and experiences" (Bresnahan 2014, 1). Authors are stubborn enough to accept the challenge. This is what Zitan declares when she was attacked: "We are free inside a society that respects the sovereignty of law. There are some people who used to control things, but they have no power upon me or any other artist" (Ali 2012, translation mine). But at the same time, Zitan does not negate the role of censorship. She adds that she is fully aware of the red lines imposed by her society that she must not transgress, but this has nothing to do with art. Art means "freedom of expression, creativity and thinking. It is the means of change and development. When art goes against a minority of stereotypical, fanatic people who do not accept differences, they attack art on the grounds of politics, religion or moralities so that they can suppress both art and artists" (Ali 2012, translation mine).
In Egypt, Shabayek also admits the role of censorship, but she regards it as a mistake that turns things upside down. She reports how naive she was when went to get permission for her show, thinking that it would be safer for her and her cast. El-Shimi adds: "There are so many laws on what you can say and not say in public relating to morality, religion… If the censors don’t censor works, artists could face serious charges and prison sentences" (El-Shimi 2012). Surprisingly enough, the script Shabayek provided was rejected and the censor asked her to provide another one. In her first attempt to avoid censorship, as Shabayek said, "We gave them a script that was different from the one we were going to perform. I took out a lot of stories but still they censored it. It was crazy" (Dean 2015).
Moreover, a censor may ask for more modifications to the text before its performance, which is known as "prior censorship". In this case, a censor asks for either the omission or the modification of raunchy scenes. To make a compromise, Shabayak has to mime some scenes, especially when censors themselves attend the show: "They came to see the version I sent them, not the actual ver sion, so we ended up performing half of the performance and miming out the rest, then at the end then saying this is only half of the performance, the other half is censored out" (Dean 2015). In most cases, the censor is just a government employee who understands nothing about theatre to decide what should and should not be said and how. In such a case, performers refuse to respond. They begin to practise self-censorship by omitting offensive words. In the long run, they stop doing that. Shabayek reflects: "Now I don’t go to the censors, nor do I practice self-censorship and that’s that" (Dean 2015). Sometimes censors themselves make it worse due to their lack of understanding of the full meaning of the text, both in form and content. Shabayek reflects:
For example, there was a conversation in which one character says to the other, "I want to sleep with a woman" and then his friend says, "I want to sleep with one too". And they censored it out so it became, "I want…" and his friend would respond, "I also want…". This is how much they would censor it. I still have the script and it’s ridiculous. You feel like in the censored version the audience would think the actors were referring to something much more shameful than they were (Dean 2015).
Similarly, Zitan has to fight her own battle with censorship. "With its refusal to filter the language of women’s sexuality and their relationships to their bodies, Dialy, though it capitalizes on the Moroccan state’s and the monarchy’s promotion of women’s rights as a sign of democratization, transgresses the limits of regulated spaces and performances that are made available for women" (Hachad 2019, 205). Zitan insists on the cultural message of the text and sees no contradiction between Dialy and moralities. When Dialy is criticised as immoral, she answers, "Ignorance has nothing to do with morals", adding that "people who do not like the show are not obliged to attend it. Going to the theatre is optional, so there is no reason for protesting. Each one goes his way" (Makreim 2012, translation mine). Empowered as they are with self-confidence, iron will and patience, Shabayek and Zitan use every means to trespass censorship and get their plays staged.