The Creative Forum for Independent Theater Groups from Europe and the Mediterranean, which closed its seventh edition this week in Alexandria, placed equal emphasis on training workshops as well as presenting performances. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina's 10-day non-festival presented 19 different workshops for young theater practitioners, as well as 26 performances including theater, dance, and music performances. One of the most exciting theatrical events in Egypt, the Creative Forum works on transcending the limitations of festivals, and investing in the future of theater. The vision of its creator and dynamo Mahmoud Abou Douma is to create cosmopolitan interactions and build the cadres that would create future theater, providing them with knowledge, training and exposure to contemporary trends in theater and dance. Nora Fouad, a young theater maker from Cairo, was very pleased that she participated in the Arts Management training workshops. She told Daily News Egypt that this was an invaluable experience. "I learned a lot about Arts Management from the Palestinian trainer Mariana Barhoum. We were introduced to the basics of writing project proposals, grants, and funding in addition to the major organizations and the production situation in various countries. Amina Ezz El Arab, a young Egyptian actor and director, expressed similar enthusiasm: "We had five trainers from five countries and different backgrounds in theater. They enriched us with their wide experiences.from moving the body on stage, to analyzing every syllabus of every word. One of the exciting performances in the seventh edition was Zenith Productions' "Living Utopia. This Austrian performance offered a fresh perspective on the emancipation of both women and men and the definition of a human being. This physical theater performed by Kari Rakkola, Sandra Knoll and Agorita Bakali with the light and sound of Marcus Strohmeyer was rooted in Grotowski's work. It relied heavily on the expression of the bodies of the performances who we able to present subtle interactions and changes through their various part of their bodies including acting with their feet. The stark red color of the three actors' lab coats and the red dresses of the two female actresses created a sculpted image in contrast to the black background. The three performers were able to present very complex notions like the struggle for perfection and the uselessness of such efforts, and searching for ways to stop the torment of our souls and bodies, with humor, humanity and compassion. The soulful music carried the story when the performers lost the words. "Living Utopia portrayed a multilayered relationship with language and expression. It started with the three performers with faces covered with blank paper, after they each draw a face for themselves, they start writing text on each other's bodies. The body/actor translates what's written on it into verbal language. The writing moves from the bodies of the performers to floor of the stage and at the end of the performance it is projected, out of focus, on the back wall. Only some parts of the texts could be read on the moving bodies of the performers, conflating the relationship between body and text. Another performance that tried to explore language and its limitations was the Egyptian production "Al Dars. Ahmad Hussein Amin's adaptation of Eugene Ionesco's "The Lesson is a meditation on people's ability to communicate and their attempts to understand each other despite of differences of languages, and the dreadful consequences that happen when communication fails. The simple set that flirted with the idea of time, through using 40 clocks on stage, was a perfect backdrop for the virtuoso performance of Emad Ismail and Dooa Hamza who had wonderful chemistry on stage and were able to tap into the comedic aspect of the absurd. The Lebanese performance "Silicone Bomb used a more "realistic setting, in its attempt to present an unusual human interaction during the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon. A woman seeks phone help from a clerk in a cosmetic surgery clinic because her silicone implants exploded during the attacks. Unfortunately, the sitcom inspired dialogue and Lina Abyad's direction were not able to delve into the complexity of the war situation or capture the depth of the two stranded women, focusing on the not-so-subtle sexual jokes. Among the performance offerings of the Creative Forum were a number of student productions. Teaterhogskolan's "Eaten By Men presented the work of students from the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts mime program. The Swedish production offered fun ways in the use of stage and the human body. What started as a playful performance with physical comic interactions turned into a violent performance tapping into the invisible group violence and exploring the ecstasy of suffering. Another student production that started with powerful movement and primordial drum beats was Netherlands Artez production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible. Director Ari Peterse led a team of young performers dressed in tongue-in-cheek T-shirts that had the name of each character printed at the back while the front displayed bumper sticker style mottos summarizing the characters motivation in the play such as "Desperate Housewife, "Hal le lujah. or "Not a Witch..Just a Bitch. The famous court scene was staged with the actors on all four, connecting to the animal energy that dominated the power struggle behind the Salem witch hunt. As the forum closed, it was clear that it had established a solid identity that not only encourages and presents theater and dance, but also harbors creativity and creates an egalitarian space for performances and artists - European and Mediterranean alike. The forum also gives Egyptian audiences a chance to see the new art trends of the Independent Groups.
