The hot summer in Cairo is coinciding with a busy cultural season: the National Theater Festival kicked off on July 1, overlapping with the Modern Dance Festival, both sponsored by the Cultural Development Fund of the Ministry of Culture.
In its fourth year, the theater festival lit 12 stages across Cairo with 36 performances, 27 of them participating as part of the official competition.
Many of the offerings in this year’s festival are based on classic plays, both European and Egyptian. The festival presents six Shakespeare plays, including two “Lears and two “Hamlets, next to masterpieces by Tawfik Al-Hakim, Alfred Farag, Naguib Mahfouz, Mahmoud Diab, Harold Pinter, Victor Hugo, Max Fresh, Eugene Enesco and Eugene O’Neil.
The plays selected for the festival competition represent the active production bodies in Egypt: eight plays from government theaters, five from the department of public culture, two produced by Hanager Art Center, two from independent theater companies, two from the Higher Institute of Theater Art, one from the Artistic Creativity Center and, for the first time, a performance from the National Center for Theater, in addition to four university productions.
The private theater, often referred to as commercial theater, is not represented in the festival. Its only submission, Galal El-Sharqawy’s “World of Clowns, was rejected by the selecting committee due to late application.
Judging from the plays selected for the National Theater Festival, it appears that the current Egyptian theatrical writing effort directs the bulk of its energy to variations of dramaturgy, whether it is “based on, “derived from, “adapted, or “inspired by, with little space for new and original ideas.
One of the few original productions is “Viva Mama, created and directed by Abeer Ali and produced by Hanager Art Center. Ali founded her Independent Theater Company El-Mesaharati in the early 1990s, focusing on dramatizing aspects of the folk traditions of Egypt. Her experimentation with traditional ritual and theatricalizing ceremonies, injected a new blood in Egyptian theater scene.
Ali’s new piece is a collaboration between the director and a writing team.
The material is based on a number of historic texts, yet it fails to rise to the standard of work El-Mesaharti used to offer. The Egyptian family house she invites the audience to visit could be seen as an updated version of No’man Ashour’s 1950s’ family plays such as “El-Doughary Family or “The People Downstairs.
“Viva Mama tries to encapsulate the changes Egyptian society underwent in the past 60 years, while seeking to create a continuum between the political and historic events of the early 20th century and the current political challenges facing the Arab countries, especially the Palestinian issue. This ambitious undertaking unfortunately falls flat, thanks to a host of clichéd characters, forced humor and a dominant atmosphere akin to sitcoms.
The visual concept of the play stands outs as a reminder of Ali’s unique talent in creating a distinctive atmosphere. The Hanager stage was transformed into a closed black box with a large house door. The audiences were all invited to join the family dinner on stage. After the door is closed, the spectators and family members sat around a dinner table, surrounded by family portraits, in front of dinner plates. In spite of the unusual stage design, this play, like the empty dinner plates, and the absent “Mama, didn’t fulfill the promise of a satisfying meal, artistically or culinary.
As striking in its set is Eugene Enesco’s absurd play “The Lesson (Al-Dars) directed by Ahmad Hussein Amin and produced by Studio Emad Eddin. This performance is the product of workshops organized by the studio to support new talents, providing them with artistic and technical training.
In the background of the simple set, comprising a table, two chairs, a rocking chair and a small blackboard, is a remarkable wall of clocks, of many shapes and designs, some still, others ticking with pendulums. The wall of time points to and plays with the timelessness of Enesco’s lesson. This set is designed by newbie Shaimaa Ahmad and creatively lit by Saber El-Sayyed.
Though Amin’s interpretation does not offer a new vision, the commendable performances by Emad Ismail, Doaa Hamza and Lana Moushtaq respect both the text and the audience. The exciting visuals announce Amin as a truly promising director of a play that ranks among the most solid productions in this year’s National Theater Festival.
The National Theater Festival concludes Saturday, July 11. Admission is free.
