The supreme committee of the 28th Cairo International
Festival for Experimental Theatre (CIFET) revealed the modified dates for its
upcoming edition. The 28th round of the festival will take place between 14
and 19 December 2021, changed from 7 to 15 December. Earlier this
month, the festival announced a call for submission to all local and
international theatre makes. The submission's deadline is 7 August.
According to a statement, the change of dates aims to give a
broader opportunity for theatre practitioners to participate in CIFET and avoid
the overlapping with other regional theatre and music events taking place
around this time.
The Carthage Theatre Days (Carthage Journées théâtrales
de Carthage) will take place between 4 and 12 December. Since its founding in
1983, the festival has established itself as one of the most important theatre
events in the region, attracting a large number of regional and international
theatrical communities to the Tunisian city.
The committee underscores that the decision of changing the
CIFET's dates is taken as the festival's administration is always keen on
enhancing and encouraging all gifted artistic participants from around the
world to take part in all festivals.
The CIFET's committee also added that starting 2022, the
festival will return to its regular schedule and will take place in September.
The December edition comes as an exceptional date and is linked to the pandemic
that characterized the past months and continues to create obstacles of
movement for many countries.
Founded in 1988, the Cairo International Festival for
Experimental Theatre was taking place annually in the first days of September.
The festival's continuity was interrupted by the January 2011 Revolution and
the many changes that took place in Egypt's artistic scene in the following
years.
After a five-year hiatus, the festival returned in 2016 with
its 23rd edition and a new name: the Cairo International Festival for
Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET) and a few editions change of
timing, a fact that continued until 2019. During this period of time, the
festival has also dropped its competitive character and focused on presenting a
limited number of local and international plays.
In its 27th edition (2020), the CIFET was held in first days
of September with Alaa Abdel Aziz as its president. Among the major changes
that Abdel Aziz introduced is returning to the event's competitive character
and bringing back the event's original name: Cairo International Festival for
Contemporary Theatre.
Due to the global pandemic, the 27th CIFET was limited to
local live performances by Egyptian troupes and international online
plays. The festival's 28th edition to take place in December is
presided over by Gamal Yakout. The artistic managers are Mohamed Abdelrahman
El-Shafei and Saeed Kabeel
Source: Ahram Online
