STAGE

The work of noted late Egyptian playwright and author Tawfik al-Hakim will receive its first professional performance in the United States next year--nearly 10 months after his death in Cairo on July 26 at age 88. His play, “The Tree Climber,” will open May 5 at the Sanctuary Theater in Washington. It will be part of an international season including work from the Soviet Union, Chile, the Philippines and the Caribbean as well as the United States. Hakim’s novel, “Return of the Soul,” was influential in the 1952 revolution that ended the Egyptian monarchy. “The Tree Climber” is about a detective investigating a murder who encounters a series of odd characters including a dervish and a magic tree.