Egypt’s first international festival for women’s theatre has chosen the Ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, Isis, to serve both as its icon and as its name.
Rasha Abdel Moneim, Director of the International Isis Festival for Women’s Theatre, said that the festival chose the name due to the Ancient Egyptian goddess serving as the model of the strong Egyptian women who refused to allow darkness to control her homeland.
She said that modern theatre is just like Isis, in that it gathers Egyptians and spread the values of truth, goodness, and beauty.
According to legend, Isis collected the body of her husband Osiris after he was killed by his evil brother, Seth. She also supported her son Horus until he defeated Seth, the god of darkness and evil, as vengeance for his father’s death.
The International Isis Festival for Women’s Theatre is an annual festival specialising in theatre performances concerned with women’s issues, which are inseparable from community issues locally and internationally, regardless of the gender of its makers.
The festival will also present theatrical performances by women that reflect this creativity, in addition to shedding light on modern and different experiences.
The festival is not just a feminist development festival to raise awareness of women’s problems, rather it is an artistic festival that takes feminism as a framework without becoming the goal. It also enhances the state’s efforts aimed at empowering women in accordance with Egypt’s Vision 2030.
This edition of the festival will honour the writer Fathia Al-Assal, while the superstar Sawsan Badr will be the honorary president of the festival.
The festival will be held on 15-21 September, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, and Youth and Sports.
