The Start Your Dream project has been completed in Sharqiya, a governorate in northern Egypt with its capital being Zagazig.

During an official ceremony which took place in Zagazig Culture Palace last week, Culture Minister Ines Abdel-Dayem distributed certificates of the projects' completion to 64 actors who participated in the training.

Organised by the General Authority for Cultural Palaces headed by Ahmed Awad, the ceremony was attended by numerous officials from Sharqiya, including the governor, Mamdouh El-Ghorab.

Start Your Dream is part of the initiative which originated in Cairo's Youth Theatre and expanded to other governorates last year.

The most recent workshops took place in Fayoum, where a group 53 people completed the project and staged a performance in early January. Prior to that, the same project was completed in a workshop in Assiut.

Sharqiya's Start Your Dream lasted for six months. The workshop saw 594 applicants, from which 120 young men and women were selected. 64 talents reached the workshop’s final stage: 15 young women and 49 men.

The project is spearheaded by Adel Hassaan, the director of the Youth Theatre, who is hoping to develop and offer opportunities to young people interested in acting and the field of theatre at large. Among the main aims of the workshop is to revive the theatrical movement, following the spirit that was known to Egypt in the 1960s.

Operating since 2018 in Cairo, the initiative attracted a large number of young people. Among the achievements of the Youth Theatre’s acting workshops was the play Beit Al-Ashbah (The Ghost House), performed by young actors in 2019. The play was written and directed by Mahmoud Gamal Hedindi.

During the first wave of the pandemic, the initiative was moved to an online platform under the culture ministry's YouTube channel. The viewers were able to attend online workshops that consisted of short lectures covering a variety of theatre issues with the aim of developing young talents interested in exploring the field.

Numerous theatre specialists shared their expertise during the workshop, presenting topics on acting, drama, stage performance, etc.

The workshops will continue across other governorates, such as Beni Suef, Kafr El-Sheikh, Port Said, Kerdasa in Giza, and Aswan.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArtsand on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture