Mali: the Theatre of Realities festival mixes roots of the past and current political-security context

The poster of the 2023 edition of the Festival du Théâtre des réalités. © Festival of the Theatre of Realities

Text by: David Baché

1 min

The international festival Theatre of Realities is held for a week in Mali. The city of Sikasso, in the south-east of the country, is hosting the sixteenth edition of this event, which this year has chosen to mix roots of the past and the current political-security context.

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On the program of the Théâtre des réalités 2023 festival, concerts, conferences, puppet parades, and about fifteen performances: dance, circus and especially plays. This year's theme: "Crying Out Your Roots."

Daouda Cissé is a member of the association Acte 7, which organizes the festival: "Creating one's roots means appealing to one's ancestors, appealing to the past, so reflecting on the past to prepare for the present and have a bright future. That's kind of why we chose a lot of theater companies that will do dances of death, plays that talk about the past. So to remind ourselves a little bit of who we are so we don't forget where we came from."

« A conference that will talk about the security situation and also peaceful elections »

The "Theatre of Realities" festival welcomes Malian, Burkinabè, Ivorian, Nigerien and Guinean companies. But this year, no European companies due to the political and security context. A context that is also on the festival program. Daouda Cissé: "At the heart of the festival, we will present a conference that will talk about the security situation and also peaceful elections. We believe that, for greater awareness, the holiest voice would be the voice of theatre. If we present plays that will talk a lot about the security situation, terrorism, and so on, people will understand better. That's why there are a lot of pieces that are going to talk about this.

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The Theatre of Realities festival is held at the Municipal Stadium of Sikasso until the end of the week.

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