Friday 02/January/2026 – 03:47 AM
As part of preparations for the launch of the sixteenth session of Arab Theater Festival, The National Center for Theater, Music and Popular Arts, in cooperation with the festival administration, under the patronage of Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Minister of Culture, and under the supervision of director Hisham Atwa, Head of the Theater Sector, is organizing a special retrospective program entitled Welcome to the Arab Theater Festival, during which five visual recordings of distinguished theatrical performances that have previously won festival awards in its previous sessions are presented.
Director Adel Hassan, Director of the National Center for Theater, Music and Popular Arts, said that the performances will be held from January 4 to January 8, 2026 at the Cinema of the Artistic Creativity Center affiliated with the Cultural Development Fund in the courtyard of the Cairo Opera House. They all begin at exactly eight o’clock in the evening, and each performance is followed by an open discussion with the public, and attendance at the events is available for free.
The program will open on Sunday, January 4, with the presentation of the play “Solo,” based on the novel “Night of Destiny” by Taher Ben Jelloun, script and directed by Mohamed El Hor, produced by Akon Theater in the Kingdom of Morocco, which is the play that won the Arab Theater Festival Award in 2018. On Monday, January 5, a recording of the play “The Collar and the Bracelet” written by Sameh Mahran based on the novel by Yahya Al-Taher Abdullah, directed by Nasser Abdel Moneim, produced by the Vanguard Theater in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the winner, will be shown on Monday, January 5. Festival award in 2019.
As for Tuesday, January 6, the play “The Day Has Gone” will be performed, written by Ismail Abdullah and directed by Muhammad Al-Amiri, produced by the Sharjah National Theater in the United Arab Emirates, and winner of the festival’s award in 2023.
On Wednesday, January 7, a recording of the play “Taknaza… The Story of Tuda” will be shown, written by Ismail Al-Orabi and Amin Nassour, and directed by Amin Nassour, produced by the Land of Chaouen Foundation for Cultures in the Kingdom of Morocco, which is the winner of the festival’s award in 2024. The program will conclude on Thursday, January 8, with the presentation of the play “Bukhara” written and directed by Sadiq Trabelsi, produced by the theater mogul in the City of Culture in Tunisia, and winner of the Arab Theater Festival Award in 2017. 2025.
This program comes in the context of the National Theater Center’s keenness to document the most prominent Arab theatrical experiences, and provide the audience with the opportunity to interact with pioneering theatrical models, reflecting the richness and diversity of the Arab theatrical scene, and enhancing the festival’s presence as a prestigious cultural platform to celebrate theatrical creativity in the Arab world.
It is worth noting that the activities of the 16th Arab Theater Festival begin on January 10 and continue until January 16, 2026 AD.
