Culture Min. Inaugurates 4th Season of 'The University Theater Stars'

Dr Enas Abdel-Dayem, Minister of Culture, inaugurated today the fourth session of “university theater stars entitled “The Return of the Spirit”.

It was organized by The Cultural Development Fund sector headed by Dr. Fathy Abdel Wahab.

The ceremony was attended by director Khaled Jalal - the head of this activity and the head of the cultural production sector, Dr. Hisham Azmy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Culture, Dr. Naveen Mohamed, head of the archive and National Documents House, held on Hanager Art Center- the outside stage.

Abdel Dayem said that the Egyptian theater is witnessing a remarkable movement, sponsoring the young talents.

She indicated that theater is the nucleus of theatrical generations who are capable of achieving serious and distinguished creativity.

She added that supporting and caring for promising talents comes on the priorities of the Ministry of Culture's strategy to facilitate all the means for these generations to express themselves, present their ideas and their artistic imagination.

Furthermore, she stressed that the seasons of "The university theater stars" are a nucleus for theater creators and one of the platforms for the production of serious performances that participate in achieving cultural and artistic momentum and enriching the Egyptian theater scene.

In addition, the minister honored a number of stars whose start came from the university theater , namely: director Mohamed Al-Sagheer, artists Shady Sorour, Mohamed Tharwat, Mohsen Mansour, Tariq Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Amin, Amr Saad and Amr Abdel Jalil.

In his speech, Jalal said that universities are the source of promising creative energies, stressing that the seasons have become an event which the university’s theatre youth are waiting for in all the Republic.

He indicated that all the participants have the opportunity to present their performance on one of the state's theaters in front of the audience.

The winning show will be presented within the activities of the National Festival of Egyptian Theater.

It is noteworthy that the fourth session of “the University Theater Stars season” includes 115 theatrical performances from the universities of Cairo, Ain Shams, Helwan, Future University, Alexandria, Damietta, Benha, Mansoura, Port Said, and Fayoum.

“The watch committee” has chosen 10 troupes. This committee consisted of the critics: Basem Sadiq, Mai Selim, and Hind Salama. Meanwhile, the jury includes The names of : artist Mohamed Desouki - the head of the jury, and the members: artist Ihab Fahmy, Dr. Samir Shaheen, director Islam Imam and Dr. Marwa Odeh.

It is worthy of note that the opening ceremony included presenting the theatrical performance "No Truth at Rashomon Gate" taken from the text of the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akatagawa, Dramaturge and directed by Karim Shahdi - from Future University.

Jalal noted that the performances are held daily at 7 pm from Thursday to Saturday, 31 October at Al Hanager Art Center theater.