Are theatre & plays more common than movies in the middle eastern world or the Arab world in general? What is your decision based on?

Unfortunately no! I work as production manager in theatre for more than 4 years. The hardest thing is to build an audience. People think about theatre as a luxury and something not that important in the society which is totally wrong 

hmm , theaters are very rary in middle east and these few are even not usefull because its a comidia theater and not opjective.

let me start by saying that Theatre and plays are common throughout many parts of the world even though they are not as popular as movies. My home country, South Africa is one of the countries that have poor public support for theatre. I feel more can be done to expose the masses to the beauty of theatre. I'm not farmiliar with Theatre and plays produced in the middle east or the Arab world, I've been exposed more to their movies. In conclusion Theatre and plays are not as, or more common than movies in the middle east and the world in general.

Maybe I should start with my own country, Lebanon. Just like everywhere in the world today, watching a movie or TV programs, consist of an easy tool of entertainment, not to mention the Social Media and Youtube as an easy acccess to any form of entertainment.

However, and only recently, Theatrical plays started to gain popularity. In our collective memory, plays have always been part of our culture, be it with the famous Rahbanis' big productions, Romeo Lahoud's, Chouchou's, Akhwat Shanay's, to name a few, not to mention The Baalbeck festivals that have gained an international propaganda and worldwide recognition. 

Nowadays, the digital form of entertainment whether it is a film or a TV series are way much common than theater & plays. The reason is definitely due to the fact that this form of entertainment can be delivered with technology anywhere. 

 i think the movies more common than plays in the middle eastern or the Arab world

BUT in my opinion the theater is source of  Arts, it`s Old like civilization ,it`s the first teacher

 So If you need to learn acting or singing or dancing, there is no better than theater

I would say movies are likely more popular than plays in the Middle East. Certainly in Egypt

No . movies are more viewed and arabs nations watchs more movies and series