Players from all over Egypt including actors, directors, writers and critics flocked to the Opera House on Tuesday evening to participate in the opening of the National Festival of the Egyptian Theater, which is a panorama of a full year of theatrical works.

The most prominent attendees were actress Samiha Ayoub, director Jalal Sharkawi, actor Ezzat Al-Alayli, critic Huda Wasfi, and actress Suhair Al-Murshidi.

The 12th edition of the festival bears the name of the late actor and director Karam Mutawe (1934-1996), whose poster featured the poster.

The director of the festival and the head of the artistic house of the theater, Ismail Mokhtar, in the opening speech, that «the mobilization of creators and those interested in the theater movement in the carnival celebration of the Egyptian theater is an effort by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to display distinct models of what was presented in the spaces of the theater.

"This course comes to bear the name of the late creator Karam Mutawa, who was not only the creative artist and the great professor, but his life was a unique melody for shaping change towards knowledge.

More than 70 performances are competing for the festival's prizes in three competitions, in addition to a playwriting competition named Lenin Sandy, and another for the critical article. The total value of the prizes is 600 thousand pounds (about 36 thousand dollars).

Performances at all state theaters will be free until August 30.

The opening program included a contemporary dance show entitled "The Extraordinary" designed and directed by Antar, who expresses the uniqueness of the actor with his talent and rebellion against the prevalent and familiar, and his constant aspiration to influence society in order to change it for the better.

The Minister of Culture, Ines Abdel Dayem, also honored a number of artists, including actor Youssef Shaaban, actress Sawsan Badr, director Mohsen Helmy, actor Lotfi Labib, singer Ali El Haggar, in addition to some of the artists who left recently, such as Farouk El-Fishawy, Mahmoud El-Gendy and Mohamed Negm. .

30

August, the closing date of the festival.

Festival Director:

"Mutaw's generosity was not only that creative artist, but his life was a unique melody for shaping change towards knowledge."