Dr. Enas Abdel-Dayem, Minister of Culture, inaugurated Al- Ayem Theater in El-Manial District on Thursday after three years of halt to complete the process of their development and rehabilitation.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Khaled Galal, Head of Cultural Production Affairs, artist Ismail Mokhtar, Head of Theater Artistic House, artist Ehab Fahmy, Director of Al- Comedy Theater and an array of artists and critics.
Abdel-Dayem stressed the important the role of theater in building society, refining conscience and combating extremism. She explained that Al- Ayem Theater is one of the castles of Egyptian creativity that was restored to life by youth – the fuel of Egyptian theater lifting the flame of enlightenment.
She referred to Egypt's leadership in the Middle East theater movement and to the Egyptian immortal works that made the history of theater .
On his part, Ismail Moukhtar said that the sound and lighting devices has been updated in Al- Ayem theater, taking into account the requirements and precautions of civil protection.
The inaugurating ceremony witnessed several activities starting from the external Square that presented: a musical paragraph by "Brass Sound Band", a distinguished group of students of the Academy of Arts, a live show of the Comedy Museum and a show of fire crackers.
As for the Comedy theater, the activities included presenting a 10-minute documentary film produced by "The National Center for Theater, Music and Folklore" which narrates the history of AL Ayem Theater and scenes of the most important performances, followed by delivering opening speeches, and presentation of a spectacle of " Dihka Li Misr" written by Riham Abdel Hamid, poems composed by Tarek Ali and directed by Walid Al-Shahawi .
At 9 pm in the small theater (youth theater), ) The minister inaugurated "Ismaouna – Hear us" Hall for people with special abilities, followed by presenting the theatrical Performance " Hymn of Al-Falah Al-Fasih" produced by "Youth Theater" written by Mohammed Hamad and directed by Saeed Salman.
Moukhtar noted that the show strategy includes the contemporary societal concerns and ways to give young artists the opportunity to advertise themselves.
It is worthy of note that Al- Ayem Theater was specified to the two troupes of "The Comic Theater" and "Youth Theater". They include two large stages accommodating 480 seats and the small ones accommodate 250 seats.
"The Comic Theater Troupe" was established in 1963 and its performances were presented on Mohamed Farid Theater; it was headed by pioneer directors including Saed Rady, Essam El Sayed and Magdy Mujahid. Many special plays were presented: "Matloub Zawga Halan", Misa Al Kheir Misr" "Al- Mihata - the station" , "Mouled SIdi Al Moureb – The birth of Sir Tyrannical", "|Al Maowdou kabir Awy- It Is A big Deal" and "Al- Bahlawanat- The Clowns".
As for the youth theater , it was founded by Dr. Abdel Hamid Radwan, former Minister of Culture, in 1982, and was under the directorship of Rashad Osman. This theater aimed at dealing with youth issues and problems .The theater was directed by many great figures including Mahmoud El-Alfi, Mostafa El-Demerdash, Abdelghani Zaki, Mohsen Moselhi Hisham Attwa , Osama Rauf King and Akram Mustafa Mohammed.
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