Nehad Selaiha finds much to admire at the opening ceremony of this year's edition of the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre Some people are blessed with an amazing capacity for faith optimism. Martha Coigney -- the American honorary president (for life) of the worldwide -- is one of them. After 8 years of chairing the CIFET's viewing committee (which examines all the shows proposed for the festival to decide the ones eligible for the contest and has for members the Bulgarian-German playwright and director Ginka Tcholakova Henle and French actor and director Jean Michel Meunier), her sanguine enthusiasm for the event shows no signs of sagging. 10 years into the life of the festival and most of its middle-aged followers at home, including its staunchest supporters, began to feel it had become a bit repetitive. Farouk Husni himself, who founded it 20 years ago and is apparently still passionate about it, is reported to have said that evening, after watching the customary inaugural spectacle directed by Khalid Galal, that it had 'aged'. Galal himself was not yet twenty when the CIFET started in 1988, and now, at nearly forty, his joy in the occasion seems to have abated. Though his crowd of young actors skidded blithely across the stage on wheeled panels carrying the posters of previous years and ended up sporting the one with number 19 amid a lot of cheering and piercing whistles, the show was sadly colourless and lackluster. Fortunately, Coigney took the stage immediately afterwards and her speech recaptured the enthusiasm of earlier days, reminding us of what the festival is all about and what it has meant to her and should mean to us. You would think that after 8 sessions and watching more than 250 performances from all over the world (this year alone the committee saw tapes and DVDs of 66 works from 54 countries), she and her two colleagues now know what to expect; "you would be wrong," she stoutly asserted. For her, every time is "the first time". "The only time you repeat things in theatre," she said, "is when you are learning. The rest of your life in theatre is in the present tense and for the first time." Nevertheless, the past is also important in theatre. Because theatre is "a disappearing act... theatre people have very strong memories. It is always part of life in theatre to remember what was done and who did it." Though the CIFET "is a celebration of experimental theatre in the world, a recognition of what is next, ... it can only stand on the platform of what happened before", she added, then went on to remind us that the real significance of the festival lies in bringing theatre people together to share their stories and perceptions of the 'truth'. Since artists are "strangers", "nomads" in their own countries," she said, any event which helps to bond them, make them feel at home in the world and restore to them the sense of being "a family without borders" is in the nature of "a miracle". The speech ended on a fervent note, with the rousing slogan: "Instead of a war, have a festival." After that, Basma, a rising actress who acted as compere that evening, introduced the speakers in the central seminar (on theatre and technology) who, because they numbered over thirty, were made to stand in a half circle at the back, then the participants in the roundtable and workshops (on digital theatre), and finally the 11-member international jury. I was extremely pleased that the head of the jury this year was a woman -- writer, critic, and lecturer on theatre criticism, Karen Fricker, from Ireland -- and that out of the ten members, four were also women: American theatre and movie actress Susan Carlson; the Russian Leila Kurashinova, co- producer of the Moscow New Drama festival; director, critic and professor of drama, Marie Kruger, the first South African jury-member in the history of the festival; and theatre director and festival-organiser Marina Raffanini from Italy. However, of the thirty odd participants in the cultural activities, only 7 are women, not including Karen Fricker who, as well as acting as jury chairman, figures on the list of speakers in the third session of the seminar which focuses on experimental trends opposed to technology in theatre direction. The list of honorees reflects a similar gender prejudice, albeit to a lesser degree, with a ratio of 3 women to 5 men. When I took this issue up with the festival chairman, Fawzi Fahmi, told me simply that it was a fact of life that fewer women than men manage to achieve recognition in theatre and become internationally known. He would be happy to include more women; the question is how to find them. On the whole, however, one has to admit that in matters of sexual equality and women's rights, the CIFET has taken a leap forward this year. After a decent interval which allowed the foreign guests to mingle with the locals and each other, meet old acquaintances or make new ones, the performance of the evening started. The Georgian Extravaganza by the Fingers Theatre in Tbilisi, conceived and directed by Beso Kupreishvili, the founder of the theatre, was pure enchantment. Inspired by the Pink Floyd's famous 1979 album, The Wall (developed by Roger Waters, with final brush strokes by band mates David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright), and using it as sole soundtrack, Extravaganza consists of a series of sketches performed solely by costumed fingers -- a stunning development of the art of puppetry -- inside a dark hole in a modest brick wall, with real human heads, at times in white face or intriguingly masked, occasionally popping up to share the space with the performing fingers. The paradoxical nature of a wall as both protection and barrier is the controlling theme as most of the sketches showed the little people inhabiting this imaginary, alternately frightening, lyrical and very funny world engaged in pulling down and erecting walls, climbing up and down them, or trying to soar above them. While the contrast in size between the human heads and faces that mysteriously appear and the fictional people represented by the clever fingers vividly evoke Gulliver and his Lilliputs, suggesting a kind of satire of the modern world, the eerie stillness and inertness of the former and ceaseless activity of the latter triggered disturbing feelings, too dim to grasp and too deep for words. In one particular sketch, we get a side view of the top halves of a man and a woman, lying down in opposite directions, their heads nearly touching, then see the little finger-people crawling all over them, manipulating their stringed arms as if they were marionettes and building a wall between them. It seems as if the grotesque semi-human little creatures have overtaken the whole world and become the sole wielders of power. But one could read a different meaning; since fingers are the smallest parts of the body and most distant from the centre, lying on the outskirts of the body, so to speak, one could read the whole performance as a kind of metaphoric revenge undertaken by the most marginalized and underprivileged members of the human race against the big and mighty. Other people could doubtlessly come up with other interpretations, for in this kind of poetic show which suggests and evokes rather than states and works on the subconscious rather than the conscious mind, every one can construct his own text. Personally, I was grateful it brought back memories of sunny days in my childhood when we amused ourselves with creating shadow images of birds and animals with our fingers, something I had quite forgotten. I went out of the theatre looking at my fingers in wonder, as if I was seeing them for the first time. If the show had done nothing but alert us to the miracle of what we have taken for granted all our lives and reveal to us the infinite artistic potential of the human body, the versatility and creative powers that lie in even our smallest finer, it would have done more than is required of any human performance. It has been a very long time indeed since I experienced in theatre the thrilling sense of wonder and child-like excitement that the Georgian Extravaganza inspired in me. Only the dullest of hearts and minds can fail to enjoy it or appreciate the kind of magic it works on the soul and senses. I was not surprised when I later knew that the idea of the Fingers Theatre first germinated in Kupreishvili's mind during a workshop in the Children's Art Studio, 'Mtiebi", in Batumi, in 1988; Extravaganza has the kind of imaginative wisdom and freshness of perception that only children are capable of. To guard this freshness, Kupreishvili has only employed young performers, between the ages of 15 and 23, since the company was established in 1991. This means using a lot of amateurs, which, as Brecht realized, can be an advantage sometimes, and periodically renewing the members of his company. Currently, only two professional artists work in the company; the rest are amateurs. This could partly explain, perhaps, why Extravaganza, though first performed at the "Actor's House" adult theatre studio, "99+2", on June 7, 1991, has kept its bewitching freshness until now and feels as enticing as a hot loaf fresh out of the oven. The 19th Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival Metropol Theatre Thur 6 & Fri 7 (8pm): ' Odd Story ', a play by Dzelzcels Group from Latvia Sat 8 & Sun 9 (8pm): ' The Accumulation ' by The Friendship Theatre Group from Libya Mon 10 (8pm) & Tue 11 (12pm): ' Our Garden ' by The Fine Arts Department Group from Myanmar The National Theatre Thur 6 & Fri 7 (9pm) : ' Godzilla's Dream ', by The Tanz Hotel Group from Austria Sat 8 (8:30pm) & Sun 9 (9pm): ' Between Heaven and Earth ' by The Crimean Tatar Theatre Group from Ukraine Mon 10 (4pm) & Tue 11 (12pm): ' Psyche's Sisters ' by The Republican Theatre Group from Belarus Al-Salam -- Main Hall Thur 6 & Fri 7 (9pm): ' Anarkali Through The Eyes of Nur Jehn' by The Karachi Drama Circle Group from Pakistan Sat 8 & sun 9 (9pm): ' End of Reason ' by Scarabe from Sweden Mon 10 (9pm) & Tue 11 (12pm): ' Mozart? Salieri? ' by The Khazakh Theatre Group from Kazakhstan Al-Ghad Fri 7 & Sat 8 (8pm): ' Diary of a Mad Man' by The Cyprus Theatre Organization from Cyprus Al-Tali'a "Zaki Toleiman" Thur 6 & Fri 7 (9pm): ' The Bullet of Mercy ' by Art and Culture Group from Saudi Arabia Sat 8 (7pm) & Sun 9 (9pm): ' Medea ' by The Seoul Factory for Performing Group from Korea Mon 10 (7pm) & Tue 11 (12pm): ' The Lonely Woman Town ' by The Alley of Water Group from Ecuador Al-Tali'a "Salah Abdel-Sabour Hall" Thur 6 & Fri 7 (7pm): ' Lacuna ' by The Du Group Theatre from Malta Sat 8 & Sun 9 (7pm): ' The Woman who Speaks too Much ' by The Studio Contemporary Dance Company from Croatia Al-Arayes Thur 6 (10:30pm) & Fri 7 (9pm): ' The Captives ' by Ministry of Culture Group from Jordan Sat 8 & Sun 9 (9pm): ' The Hungary ones ' by Yerevan State Puppet Theatre Group from Armenia Miami Theatre Thur 6 (9pm): ' Cryptograph ' by Marebito No Kai from Japan Fri 7 (10pm) & Sat 8 (9pm): ' Morosophus ' by The Dramatic Theatre Group from Poland Sun 9 (9pm) & Mon 10 (8:30pm): ' The Blood Horse ' by The Patriotic Group for Acting from Iraq Al-Ayem "Small Hall" Thur 6 & Fri 7 (8:30pm): ' The Collapsed Imaginations ' by The Ongoing Workshop for Developing Group from Sudan Sat 8 & sun 9 (8:30pm): ' Summit ' by The Drama's Studio KIC from Montenegro Al-Gomhuriya Thur 6 & Fri 7 (9pm): ' Arena ' by The Central Europe Dance Theatre from Hungary Sat 8 & Sun 9 (9pm): ' The Trip ' by Mihai Eminescu Theatre from Romania Mon 10 (9pm) & Tue 11 (12pm): ' Miscellanea ' by Oedipus 2+2 from Greece Cairo Opera House Main Hall Sat 8 (11pm) & Sun 9 (9pm): ' If Clouds Could Speak ' by The Modern Dance Group from Egypt Small Hall Thur 6 (8pm): ' The Love of My Homeland ' by Fu Theatre from Tunisia Fri 7 & Sat 8 (8pm): ' Fool House ' by The Istanbul State Theatre from Turkey Sun 9 (8:30pm) & Mon 10 (8pm): ' Bread and Plays ' by Slovak Vojvodina from Serbia Open Air Theatre Thur 6 & Fri 7 (10pm): ' Odyssey ' by The Brama II Group from Ukraine Sat 8 & Sun 9 (10pm): ' Squeaky ' by The State Theatre for Young Audience from Uzbekistan Artistic Creativity Centre Thur 6 & Fri 7 (8pm): ' A Non-Rascal Raskolinkov ' by The Dramatic Chamber Theatre from Russia Sat 8 (8pm) & Sun 9 (7pm): ' To Conquer The Sensei' by The Kraker Theatre Group from Mexico Mon 10 (10pm) & Tue 11 (12pm): ' Thoughts in my Mind ' by Al-Anfoshy Culture Palace Group from Egypt Youth Theatre Thur 6 (7pm) & Fri 7 (8pm): ' Papa The Good God ' by The Cameron National Theatre from Cameron Sat 8 & Sun 9 (8pm): ' Exsisto ' by Ministry of Arts and Culture Group from Mauritius Al-Balloon Theatre Thur 6 & Fri (9pm): ' Orchestra of Titanic ' by The Qatar Theatrical Troupe from Qatar Sat 8 (9pm) & Sun 9 (10pm): ' FZ**k Darwin, Or How I Learned to Love Socialism ' by The Montenegrin National Theatre from Montenegrin
