By Youssra el-Sharkawy On its 25th anniversary, The Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET) is presenting theatre hits that were performed in past editions to celebrate the recent history of Egyptian contemporary theatre. The festival, which started on Monday and will run until September 20, will bring various forms of theatrical performance to Egypt to enrich the culture of theatre goers as well as those working in theatre. Around 25 performances from 35 countries, including Poland, Syria, Brazil, Tunisia and Kuwait, will present the latest developments in international theatre to Egyptian and Arab audiences. The performances will be staged at a number of different theatres in Cairo. This year the festival will also provide a golden opportunity for young audiences to watch old masterpieces as it will highlight 20-year-old Egyptian performances. It will, for example, host the first theatrical show ever to receive an award, "Altook Wal Aswera" (The Collar and the Bracelet) directed by Nasser Abdel Moneim. It was performed in the festival's 8th round in 1999. The play revolves around a poor family who live in a small village in Upper Egypt and suffer from extreme poverty. Being uneducated, they resort to superstitions and magic to improve their living conditions. Another hit to be performed is "Qahwa Sada" (Coffee Without Sugar) directed by Khalid Galal. The play was first performed in 2008 at the Artistic Creativity Centre at the Cairo Opera House. The play discussed issues of the time of its release-- spinsterhood, illegal migration, price hikes and other major social problems. It ran for over three years in different towns in Egypt and in other Arab countries. The festival will also present the controversial performance "Kalam seri" (Secret talk) which won Best Group Performance in the festival's 2007 edition. The theatrical show is performed by three actresses and tackles women's issues, harassments and the relationship between man and woman. The festival will also host performances that appeal to a variety of audiences. To honour the theatrical companies of countries that are at war or in turmoil, the festival will host plays that show resistance and struggle. The Syrian performance "Hom" (Them) features the life of Syrian women who have lost their men in the war in their country. There will also be an Iraqi performance of "Ra'hat el-Harb" (The smell of war) and two other performances from Palestine. In the past, the festival was competitive but the festival committee cancelled the competition and decided to host performances without competitions or awards. The ten-day Festival, organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, will also publish a book that documents all the shows and seminars held in past editions of the festival.
