The third occasion of the Season of the University Theatres festival came to an end on 19 April, after ten days filled with performances by the students from across Egypt. Students from Ain Shams University in Cairo garnered the largest amount of awards, through three plays that they entered into the competition: They Are All My Sons (three awards), A Day of Our Time (three awards) and Escorial (one award). Cairo University students also shone, with one play they performed, Crime on Goat Island, bringing in three awards. Held at the premises of El-Ibdaa (The Creativity Centre), the festival is the brainchild of Khaled Galal, the centre's director and president of the production division at the Ministry of Culture. The festival first took place in July 2014. It aims at reviving theatrical activities across Egyptian universities while providing a platform for the young talents to showcase their skills in acting, directing, scenography etc. Last September, during the preparations for this year's festival, a selection committee composed of critics Bassem Sadeq, May Selim, Hend Salama and Mona Fadl (the committee rapporteur) selected nine plays from 24 universities to enter the official competition. Also within the festival's line-up, tributes were paid to the stars of Egyptian theatre whose careers were launched on the universities' stages. Each day one artist was honoured, among them Bayoumi Fouad, Mohamed Farag, Iman Sayed, Fatouh Ahmed, Sameh Hussein and Hicham Ismail. The closing ceremony paid tribute to actors Ahmed Bedair and Ahmed Kamal as well as director Mohsen Helmi. The awards were as follows: Best Performance 1st prize: They Are All My Sons (Ain Shams University, Cairo) 2nd prize: Crime on Goat Island (Cairo University) 3rd prize: The Visit (Sinai University) Best Actress ex aequo: May Zoueid and Heba Al-Komy for their roles in Crime on Goat Island (Cairo University) Best Actor: ex aequo: Abdel Bary Saad for his role in The Zoo (Mansoura University) and Ahmed Abou Zeid for his role in A Day of Our Time (Ain Shams University, Cairo) Best Director: ex aequo: Ismail Ibrahim for Crime on Goat Island (Cairo University) and Nour Mohamed Abdallah for They Are All My Sons (Ain Shams University, Cairo) Best Scenography: ex aequo: Amany Hafez for They Are All My Sons (Ain Shams University, Cairo) and Mahmoud Salah for A Day of Our Time (Ain Shams University, Cairo) Best Costumes: Hagar Kamal for Escorial (Ain Shams University, Cairo) and A Day of Our Time (Ain Shams University, Cairo) (Photo: Cultural Development Fund press office) (Photo: Cultural Development Fund press office) (Photo: Cultural Development Fund press office) (Photo: Cultural Development Fund press office) For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
