Egyptian National Theatre Festival Unveils 19th Edition Details

The Small Hall at the Cairo Opera House hosted the press conference for the 19th edition of the Egyptian National Theatre Festival on Monday, where festival president Mohamed Riad unveiled the official lineup of participating works, jury committees, and the festival’s intellectual program.

Speaking during the event, Riad announced that the festival will feature 34 plays competing in the official competition, alongside three performances presented out of competition, reflecting the diversity of Egypt's theatrical landscape through productions from state institutions, universities, independent companies, the private sector, and amateur groups.

The Artistic House for Theatre leads the official selection with six productions: Metwally and Shafiqa, Seventh Heaven, The Teatro, Lucky Hour, Adagio, and Voluntary Prison. 

The General Authority for Cultural Palaces will also present six productions: The Day They Killed Singing, Sheikh Al Arab, Night of the Assassins, Les Misérables, Al Jabarti Margins, and As If Nothing Happened.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports is represented by Girls' Mustache and Shortness of Breath, while El Hanager Arts Center will compete with Sky and One Moment. 

The Cultural Development Fund joins the festival with King Lear and I Still Remember, while the Artistic House for Folk and Performing Arts presents Love in Karnak.

The Academy of Arts contributes three productions: Al Ponsko, What If, and Weekly Training to Learn the Perfect Method. 

Five independent productions have also been selected: Miramar, Our Nights, Where No One Sees Me, Good Night, Mom, and The Desperate Ride the Train. 

University theatre will be represented by The Postman and The Lady, while amateur and civil society groups will present The Caucasian Chalk Circle and The Land. The private sector entry is Oliver in Arabic.

The festival lineup also includes Crime and Punishment and Ya Nassini, produced by the Actors' Syndicate, alongside Windows, representing company, petroleum, and labor theatre groups. 

Three fringe productions, Metro Girl, A Chair with Wings, and Kodia, complete this year's program.

Riad also revealed the committee responsible for reviewing productions submitted by independent theatre companies. 

The panel is chaired by director Hassan Al Wazir and includes critic Bassem Sadek, actor Mahmoud Fouad Sedky, director Manar Zein, and Dr. Haidy Abdel Khalek.

The festival further announced the jury for the official competition, headed by renowned director Khaled Galal. The panel includes Dr. Ahlam Younes, veteran actress Aida Fahmy, set designer Amr Abdallah El Sherif, director Mohamed Zaki, composer Mahmoud Talaat, critic Ahmed Abdel Razek Aboul Ela, while actor Mahmoud Hassan will serve as the committee's secretary.

According to Riad, the jury was selected based on experience, specialization, and artistic diversity to ensure an objective and professional evaluation of this year's productions.

The festival also confirmed the jury for the Playwriting Competition. The committee will be chaired by playwright Mohamed Abdel Hafez Nassef, alongside critic and writer Mohamed Bahgat and Dr. Mohamed Samir El Khatib. 

The competition aims to encourage original Arabic and Egyptian dialect plays that have not previously been published or awarded.

Meanwhile, the Critical Essay and Theoretical Research Competition will be overseen by a panel chaired by renowned critic Dr. Hamdy El Gabry, with Dr. Mohamed Zoeima and writer and critic Gerges Shokry serving as members. 

The committee will evaluate research papers and critical studies submitted during the festival.

Alongside the artistic competitions, the festival officially launched the first session of its intellectual forum at the Supreme Council of Culture under the theme "Theatre and the Audience: Does the Audience Go to Theatre or Does Theatre Go to the Audience?"

The opening discussion, titled "Who Is the Audience?", brought together Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Culture Dr. Ashraf El Azzazi, festival president Mohamed Riad, symposium coordinator and critic Rasha Abdel Monem, as well as leading academics, critics, and theatre practitioners.

During the session, Riad stressed that expanding theatre audiences remains one of the festival's primary goals, emphasizing that the event should extend beyond theatre professionals and become part of Egypt's broader cultural life. 

El Azzazi reaffirmed the council's continued support for theatrical and intellectual activities, highlighting the importance of reaching wider segments of society through theatre.

Abdel Monem explained that this year's intellectual theme was developed following extensive discussions with academics and theatre specialists, adding that the festival is introducing, for the first time, graduates of the Cultural Development Diploma to document the symposiums and produce recommendations aimed at developing a long-term strategy for building theatre audiences in Egypt. 

She also noted the lack of comprehensive field studies on Egyptian theatre audiences, making the issue a central focus of this year's discussions.