The 26th edition of the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre came to an end with an official ceremony held at the Cairo Opera House on Thursday. A presentation at the ceremony underscored the rich content of the festival this year, pointing to the 22 productions from around the globe (from Egypt, US, Brazil, Switzerland, Kosovo, Portugal, Hungary, Morocco, Kuwait, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria, South Africa, Nigeria and Congo, among others) that it featured on numerous stages. A minute of silence was dedicated to renowned Egyptian theatre critic and professor Ahmed Sakhsoukh, who passed away one day prior to the event. The festival's opening ceremony had honoured numerous figures from the Egyptian, regional and international theatre world, such as Egyptian playwright Abou El-Ela El-Salamony, Algerian director Ziany Sherif Ayad, Mohsen Al-Ali, Ugandan professor Jessica Kaahwa, Greek director Theodoros Terzopoulos and American playwright and director Lee Breuer. The closing ceremony gave honours to Egyptian artists, including actors Sayed Ragab, Ahmed Kamal and Samira Abdel-Aziz, critic Abdel-Razik Hussein, late directors Hanaa Abdel Fattah and Mohamed Abou El-Soud, and critic Hazem Shehata. The second half of the evening featured the Modern Dance Theatre Company in their latest performance titled Hadid's Tears, directed by Walid Aouni. The performance looks at the life and career of the late, internationally acclaimed architect Zaha Hadid. The Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET) was launched in 1988 as the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre (CIFET). It took a hiatus in 2011 due to the political situation and because of budget cuts, but resumed in 2017 under a new name, as a non-competitive event aiming at creating an international dialogue through theatrical form. This year the festival took place from 10 to 19 September.
