17th Session of the National Festival of Theatre: Roundtable Discussion on Egyptian Theatre Situation

The roundtable discussion titled "The National Festival of Theatrical Theatre between Reality and Hope" has just begun, held on the sidelines of the 17th session of the National Festival of Theatre, with the attendance of several theatre and media professionals.

Moderator, Dr. Ahmed Megahed
Dr. Ahmed Megahed began his speech by saying: The National Theatre Festival expresses the Egyptian theatre situation, so the proposal came to hold a roundtable so that we can listen to several ideas and opinions from theatre figures, and these ideas work to develop the festival, and the challenges and how the theatre process works will be presented.

President of the Festival, Mohamed Riad
For his part, artist Mohamed Riad, the festival’s president, said: “I hope that during this roundtable we will present all the challenges and our ambitions to develop the festival, and what we are trying to overcome during the upcoming sessions. My first dream since I assumed the position of festival president was for the theatre to reach the man on the street, and in the first session we actually succeeded in doing that and the festival reached the man on the street. I tried to film the theatrical performances and I actually worked on that and I am a warrior, and in fact, in that session, Al-Hayat channel filmed the opening and closing as well as the performances.”

Current Challenges of Film and Archiving Theatre Shows

Mohamed Riad added: “I spoke with the United Company about hosting the winning show at the festival as the best integrated show and presenting it at the New Alamein Festival, and it will be filmed professionally, but unfortunately we have a crisis in filming and archiving the works. When I was making the films of the honorees, I did not find their old shows, so the issue of filming theatrical shows is a very urgent issue.”

Conclusion

The roundtable discussion marked the beginning of a promising dialogue on the development of the National Theatre Festival and addressing the challenges faced by Egyptian theatre.

FAQs

• Q: What is the theme of the roundtable discussion?
  A: The theme is "The National Festival of Theatrical Theatre between Reality and Hope."
• Q: Who is participating in the discussion?
  A: The discussion is being attended by several theatre and media professionals, including the Festival President, Director, and Critic, among others.