Following an extensive overhaul, the Al-Nasr Winter Cinema has reopened as the Damanhour Opera House. Nevine El-Aref attended its inaugural performance Against the backdrop of a colourful street scene, Cairo ballet troupe joined with Cairo Orchestra for a performance of Zorba the Greek. Attended by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak and a host of senior government officials, the gala concert was staged to mark the opening of Damanhour's new opera house, located in the restored premises of the onetime Al-Nasr Winter Cinema. The audience also watched a documentary on the history and refurbishment of Damanhour's most famous cultural landmark. "It is really a great leap for the Delta city of Damanhour," said Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. "The new venue will not only allow the citizens of this area access to new art forms but it will also help nurture the talents of the future." Hosni added that the project had the full support of President Hosni Mubarak, who has also given the go-ahead for two similar restoration projects in the Delta cities of Tanta and Mansoura. The Al-Nasr Winter Cinema was built in 1930 to house a theatre, cinema and library. It is housed in a 1,500-square metre, three-storey structure decorated in a mixture of Andalusia and European styles. It has a moulded foliate ceiling and at its entrance is a large Ottoman style reception hall. The design of the main auditorium fuses elements from the Vienna State Opera and the Odeon Theatre in Paris and the edifice on Mahmoud El-Nokrashi Street quickly established itself as the city's leading venue, hosting many of the era's most celebrated performers. In 1952 it became the Municipal Cinema, and the library was renamed after Tawfiq El-Hakim library, only to change identities again in 1977 when it became the Al-Nasr Winter Cinema and Damanhour Library. "The restoration project recovers one of Egypt's lost treasures," said Hosni. He added that the Culture Ministry, in collaboration with Damanhour governorate and the National Organisation for Urban Harmony, had developed Al-Saa square in front of the Opera so that it becomes in harmony with the opera house. "It has been a major challenge restoring the theatre to its original state," said Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). Not only was the building suffering from decades of neglect, it had been subjected to earlier, cack- handed attempts at restoration. The walls were cracked and what little of the original decorative scheme remained was so faded as to be unrecognisable. The LE3 million restoration progressed in three stages. First, the walls and foundations of the structure had to be stabilised by injecting cement, and water that had leaked into the building was pumped out. The second stage involved reconstructing the original decorative scheme and was, says Hawass, the most crucial part of the project. It was a delicate operation. The decorative architectural features on walls and ceiling were all constructed from plaster and their refurbishment took a "great deal of patience". The third and final phase included installing the kind of facilities and equipment that a world-class opera house demands without impinging on the character of the original building. Ventilation, lighting and sound systems all had to be slotted unobtrusively into the original features. The stage itself presented yet another challenge. The original structure was too flimsy to withstand the heavy stage equipment used in modern productions. "To handle this problem a new wooden stage has been constructed, on top of the original one but with separate foundations," explained Hawass. Abdel-Moneim Kamel, head of Cairo Opera House, said that a weekly cultural programme will be staged now that the building has been restored. The programme will include regular performances by the Arab Music Troupe and the Cairo Orchestra, while a cinema club will screen a film each week to be followed by a roundtable attended by cinema critics. Cultural salons will also be organised to discuss the latest political, economical, social, scientific and cultural issues. Kamel points out that performances by young singers will be among the highlights of the Damanhour programme, introducing new talents to an audience long deprived of a suitable stage.
