The inaugural edition of the Eazees International Women’s
Theatre Festival (EIWTF) will take place between 15 and 21 September, honoring
the name of late Egyptian playwright and activist, Fathia El-Assal (1933-2014).
The festival was originally planned to take
place between 23 and 29 March 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it
was postponed.The festival is presided over by actress Abeer Lotfy, and
director Abeer Aly and theatre critic Rasha Abdel-Moneim are the festival’s
directors. The festival is supported by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture. In its inaugural edition, the festival’s honorary president
is Egypt’s renowned actress Sawsan Badr.
The festival, to be held annually, is focused on stage plays
with a key interest in women’s issues. The opening and closing ceremonies of
the festival will take place at the open-air theatre at the Opera House, the
opening will feature a caricature exhibition titled ‘Women of Theatre’ and a
concert by the group Tablet El-Sitt. The evening will also include opening
statements by the Festival’s President Abeer Lotfi and artistic director Abeer
Ali, as well as a word from Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem.
The EIWTF will present Egyptian and international stage
plays, such as ’Another Sky’ (Morocco), ‘Lady M’ (The Netherlands),
‘Passage’ (Germany and Brazil), ‘Kandata’ (Japan), ‘Road’ (Russia), ‘Bird Cage’
(Jordan), ‘The Last Time’ (Tunisia), ‘Frida’s Wings to Fly’ (Romania - online
performance), among numerous other international and Egyptian plays. The organizers
are yet to reveal the detailed schedule. The plays will be staged at numerous
venues in Cairo, including the Hanager Centre for Arts, the Artistic Creativity
Centre, the Ministry of Youth Theatre, the Cairo Library, the Supreme Council of
Culture, the Tahrir Cultural Centre, Ewart Hall, Studio Emad Al-Din, and the
Cairo Opera’s Small Hall.
The festival will also hold several workshops and symposiums
led by Egyptian and international theatre makers such as Moataz
Abdel-Sabour, Ana Al-Hekaya Group, Nora Amin, Anne Marie, and Barbara Santos. The
main symposium will focus on a discussion around the image of women in
contemporary theatre.
The awards will be given to the best stage play, best
director, best actor, best actress, best scenography, in addition to the Jury
award, and appreciation and special mention certificates. The festival’s award
is a statue of the ancient Egyptian goddess Eazees (also known as Isis).
Two plays will be staged outside the competitive segment,
one during the opening, and another during the closing ceremony. Additionally,
the event will hold several workshops and seminars led by renowned female
theatre-makers.
Following the belief that women have a unique creative
sensitivity, the festival’s organizers aim to encourage women to express
themselves in an artistic, intellectual, and esthetic framework; create a
platform of creative networking; while raising social awareness of women’s
issues and concerns.
Among the objectives enumerated on the EIWTF’s website is
the festival’s aim to establish a fully feminist event, where no issues other
than women’s are discussed, a matter that gives the festival an opportunity to
go beyond the superficial matters, traditional stereotypes, and to highlight
the “depths of feminist crises at both the psychological and wider social
levels. It is a theatre festival with an interest in highlighting women’s
relationship with the world, which is its main concern.”
Source: Ahram
Online
