With its upcoming edition scheduled for 20-26 September, the festival will feature 15 performances from 14 countries.

The international selection that will participate in the official competition includes Mind Prey (Poland), Cassette (Algeria), Pellicule (Tunisia), Clip (Tunisia), The Panic Song Show (Italy), Light (Saudi Arabia), Noon Al-Fajwa (Sudan), A Scream in the Dark (Brazil), Error 404 (Spain), Ash (UAE), Two Refugees (Syria/France), Antigone (Jordan), and Metamorphosis (Lebanon).

The shows will also include Late Spring (Iraq), a play that will be staged on the sidelines of the festival.

The titles of the Egyptian plays are yet to be announced.

The Alexandria International Theatre Festival was founded in 2008 by theatre director Gamal Yakout under the name Theatre Without Fund Festival to host troupes from around the world, particularly low-budget and student productions.

For many years, the festival was presided over by Yakout, with Ibrahim El-Forn serving as its artistic director. With Yakout appointed president of the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre (2021 and 2022), El-Forn took charge of the Alexandria festival’s presidency with artistic director Ahmed Samir.

Since its 13th edition, the festival has been renamed Alexandria International Theatre Festival.

The festival is organised by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with several bodies linked to the ministry, including, among others, the General Authority of Cultural Palaces, the Artistic House of Theatre, the Cultural Production Affairs Sector, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.