After showing 10 episodes of the Swallow series, written and prepared by the veteran Syrian actor, Yasser Al-Azma, the followers directed Siham's criticism of the work, expressing their disappointment with its dramatic level, contrary to expectations and the huge promotion of the work.

More than a week ago, the Abu Dhabi channel began showing the series, which was scheduled to be shown last Ramadan, and was awaited by millions of viewers around the world, but urgent circumstances prevented this, according to what the writer of the work and the actor in the title role in the work, Yasser Al-Azma said.

During the past few days, voices of criticism and comparison between Swallow and what Al-Azma presented from the distinguished Maraya series during the months of Ramadan, and the majority of opinions came on social networking sites expressing disappointment in the series and the appearance of unknown actors in the artistic community in front of a character who possesses weight and position in the history of the drama Syrian.

One of the most important points that made the series the target of criticism and the talk of the followers is the duration of the episode’s presentation, which does not exceed 25 minutes, which is a short time compared to the time used by Arab directors, which averages 40 minutes per episode, meaning that the episode’s presentation time is half the usual.

Followers also played around with some actors speaking in English in many scenes without subtitles appearing on the screen, as the sentences were not even short or phrases familiar to the Arab viewer who has the least knowledge and mastery of the English language.

According to viewers of the work, the appearance of actors for the first time with a weak and unconvincing performance led to the emergence of a great discrepancy between the performance of veteran actors such as Yasser Al-Azma and Bashar Ismail, and between the characters who participate in the work and present their first artistic roles on the silver screen.

The plot was also described as incoherent, leaving many bored and weak in suspense.

The series fell into the trap of comparison with "Mirrors" by the artist Yasser Al-Azma and became the subject of great criticism (social networking sites)

Comparison with mirrors

Returning to the series “Mirrors of Greatness” that began in 1984 and continued until 2013, the Swallow departs completely from the pattern that the Syrian series used to present to its followers, and most importantly, it gathers different personalities from several Arab countries in one place, which is the Swallow Ship that sails from the Emirates towards several countries Arab and foreign, and it falls within what is now called the joint Arab drama.

Despite this, Syrian actors who shared the greatness of his mirrors share this work with him today, most notably: Marah Jabr, Bashar Ismail, Muhammad Qanu`, and Abed Fahd, with the presence of Lebanese and Egyptian representatives.

It seems that the Swallow fell into the trap of comparison with the famous Maraya series, especially since the latter sheds light on the problems and concerns of the Syrian citizen and perhaps the Arab as well through comic moments that are not without a tinge of sadness and pain.

While the work can be included in the context of what the new drama market requires - if you will - the works that bring together Arab actors have become dominant on the screen due to several factors, the most important of which are the events of the Arab Spring and the movement of artists to more stable countries.

But a small number of followers are still betting on the history of greatness and the size of his stature, and are waiting for more interesting and exciting events from the work, and prefer not to rush to judge the series.

art history

The artist, Yasser Al-Azma, born in Damascus in 1942, occupies a prominent position in the Syrian drama and theater, and his name has been associated with the famous drama series “Mirrors” that accompanied the months of Ramadan and achieved unparalleled fame, since its first episodes began in 1984 and the last was in 2013.

Al-Azma began his artistic career in the theater in 1963, where he participated in the play "Sheikh of the Hypocrites", which was taken from a play by the English poet and actor Ben Johnson.

Greatness shone in the plays "Weird" and "Tishreen Village" in the seventies of the last century, with the participation of artists Duraid Lahham, Nihad Kalai and Omar Hajo, who were written by the famous writer Muhammad Al-Maghout.

The last dramatic appearance on the small screen of the greatness was in Mirrors 2013, before he recently returned to his fans with a swallow.