The 22nd Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater wrapped up on Wednesday following 10 days of performances by theater groups from around the world.
This year’s festival was a successful gathering of performers from 47 countries, including 13 Arab countries. Theater groups from around Egypt staged an impressive 22 performances.
The program for Oct. 16 featured a performance of “Orpheus” by CRT Scenamadre, Italy. Based on the classic myth of Orpheus, this piece expands on the myth’s scope to bring in cultural references from Europe and Africa as it tells the tale of Nijango Orpheus, a man on a journey to confront his doubts and fears. As he explores the world, through poetry and song we watch him resolve the mystery of his existence and come face to face with the challenges of becoming an adult.
The following day saw a presentation of “Zimmad” by India’s Shabdamegh, a play exploring the meaning of rain. ‘Zimmad’ means the rhythm of rain showering, a phenomenon that the director wanted to capture at different stages of life through the writings of Marathi poets. Through their words, we feel a light drizzle and a torrential downpour and experience the deep connection between rain and earth, and thus between rain and human life. This interesting performance was in danger of not making it to the stage in Cairo at all: the troupe, which was the only group representing India at this year’s festival, was not able to raise the funds for their travel expenses until the last minute.
“The Good Man from Siciuan” by The Republican Theater of Moldova was on the schedule for Oct. 18. This work follows the story of a young Chinese prostitute by the name of Shen Te and her struggle to conform to the moral values cherished in her traditional society. Her good nature earns her the abuse of her neighbors, who take advantage of her naïveté. To protect herself, Shen Te is forced to create a fictional male bodyguard whose image she uses to protect herself from bad treatment. Through the portrayal of this story the play subtly yet effectively explores the ways in which gender destabilizes the idea of fixed moral values.
Day nine of the festival saw a staging of “At the Threshold” by the Nagorik Theater Group of Bangladesh. This piece explores interactions between east and west through an interesting contrast of three main characters, two from Heinrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and another from Syed Shamsul Haque’s “Irsha.” These three characters form a triangle of contradictions that throws into relief each one’s philosophy of life.
The final day’s schedule of performances included “The River of Death” by Theater Group 8×8 of Thailand, a play that uses traditional Southeast Asian performance tools from puppetry to masks and song and dance to tell the story of a river and the people that live on its opposing banks. The villagers on the river’s two banks are connected symbolically by their shared reliance on the river for life. When a dam is built to prevent flooding, however, the disruptions to the river’s natural flow turn this source of life into a sinister source of death.
Several awards were presented at the closing ceremony, which followed a half-day schedule of performances. Tunisia and Moldova dominated the awards, with The National Tunisian Theater’s “Suitcases” taking prizes for Best Performance and Best Actress, which was awarded jointly to the play’s female leads Samah Dashrawy, Samah Toukabri and Nabila Koweidar.
Moldova’s Republic Theater earned an award for “The Good Man from Siciuan” in the Best Ensemble category, and director Boris Fosca was honored for Best Directing.
The honor of Best Actor was awarded to GbessiAdji of L’wothui Theater D’adridjan, Cote D’Ivoire, for his performance in "Monsieur Dieu et les Ecerveles;" while Paulina Czernek took the prize for Best Scenography for her work on "Sentimental Piece for Four Actors" with the Teatr Montownia , Poland.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Minister of Arts and Culture Farouk Hosni has announced that the festival will take place as usual next year with some changes to be introduced to the judging process to foster diversity.
