The Independent Troupes' Training and Studies Centre may well mark the coming of age of free theatre, writes Sonali Pahwa The legitimacy of theatre in Egypt has often been questioned. No less an authority than Youssef Idris compared modern Egyptian theatre to an undergarment peeping illicitly from beneath the dress of its European progenitor. Since theatre took root when Levantine troupes toured Egypt in the late 19th century, presenting adaptations of French and Italian farces, its claims to authenticity are shaky. Successive Egyptian governments have attempted, through institutional and academic frameworks, to make it more respectable. Perhaps they succeeded too well: certainly that is the impression that might be gleaned from the stodgy offerings and weighty bureaucracy of most state theatres. In the late 1980s a group of rebels against the over-systematised state theatre establishment gathered forces and launched the free theatre movement. The rapidly proliferating and prolific independent troupes have become a major force in Egyptian theatre. Free from the bureaucracy of state theatre, they have produced their plays on smaller budgets and at a faster pace. Add an element of youth and adventurousness and you have the formula for some of the more innovative theatre the country has seen in recent years. In two of the past three years, the official Egyptian entrants at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre (CIFET) have been plays by independent directors with production support from Al-Hanager. But the troupes working outside state institutions were beginning to be weighed down by financial and logistical concerns, and a group of them decided to assert the legality of independent theatre. Six pioneering troupes recently established a cooperative called the Independent Troupes' Training and Studies Centre, housed in a downtown apartment. "Our dream is to recreate the independent theatres established by the likes of Naguib El-Rihani," says Mohamed Abdel-Khaliq, director of the cooperative, at his office off Emadeddin Street. Now lined with cinemas, this thoroughfare was the Broadway of Egypt's pre-revolution theatre. "All of our troupes have worked under the umbrella of state theatres and arranging collaboration is always a personal responsibility for the director. With a cooperative we can negotiate at a collective level. And we can have our own alternative institutions. We have a right to our own theatre. It is only when you have a stable space of your own that you can really grow. We thought of renting a decrepit old building and turning it into a theatre. We could even open a ticket window and earn money from our work. We can't do this as individual independent troupes. When the state theatres which host us sell tickets to our shows, we get none of the proceeds!" Abdel-Khaliq maintains a clear distinction between the independent troupes and Cairo's existing private sector theatre. "We still want to do inexpensive art. The aim is not commercial theatre. It is, rather, to professionalise our operations, in a framework in which troupes can be committed to their work and not have to pay expenses out of their own pockets. Later we hope to begin earning from theatre. At the moment we are the professional poor. The difference between us and the large theatres is like that between a small grocer and a supermarket. We do the same work, but we'd like to have better management." Many of the activities the cooperative plans to support are already occurring informally. The annual free theatre festival, beginning on 15 August, will be managed this year by the cooperative. In 1990 CIFET was cancelled and free troupes took the opportunity to fill the gap with a festival of their own. This rapidly grew to attract large numbers of applicants and audiences. Hoda Wassfi, the director of Al- Hanager, took up the cause of the free troupes and provided institutional support for the festival. But insufficient funds and organisational hurdles caused the festival to be suspended for several years, until it was revived in 2002. Realising the crippling effect of unpredictable support for independent theatre, the troupes have decided to build a more lasting structure for their work. "When we have established our own small theatre and it gains a reputation, audiences will know where to find us," Abdel-Khaliq explains. Equally, organising an assortment of troupes into a legal cooperative will make it easier to apply for funding. The myth that artists thrive on starvation is rapidly dispelled by the list of funding essentials that Abdel-Khaliq reels off. "We could fund our own productions, train our actors and have longer rehearsal periods in which people are paid for their time. We could seek out professional instructors from abroad through cultural centres here. This is more credibly done if we are an institution. We could even advertise our events in newspapers." The gathering momentum of these efforts has made for an expanded free theatre festival this year. Continuing the theme of light comedy chosen as the festival's hallmark in 2002, 19 plays will be performed at a range of venues. Al-Hanager continues its support of the festival, and this year has provided outdoor space for performances as well as its main theatre. Across the street the Mahmoud Mukhtar Sculpture Museum will also host shows in one of its halls. For the first time festival plays will travel outside Cairo as well. The Jesuit Cultural Centre in Minya, which has become a prominent player on the independent arts circuit, will host selected shows as well as the troupes performing them. Adding to the regional diversity at the festival are troupes from Alexandria, Qalyoubia and Mansoura. Each of these achievements is raising the morale of a committed group of artists whose forced amateur status outside state institutions makes for a precarious identity as dramatists. Their newfound legality allows them to think of a stable future for their work. "We have shown that we can make art in constrained circumstances. While the state theatres are declining, with fewer and fewer productions, we are on the rise," affirms Abdel-Khaliq. "As we grow, the audiences that now stay away from the theatre will come to it and this will give an impetus to other dramatists." "The future is increasingly being shaped by global laws in Egypt and domestic institutions are being forced to change their ways. This has helped us independent artists to find our place. We are flexible and absorb what is new. In about 10 years, I think we will be the dominant trend in Egyptian theatre."
