The ritual, rooted in Edfu in Upper Egypt, reenacts the mythological victory of Horus and celebrates his divine kingship.
Structured as a prologue, three acts, and an epilogue, it is considered an early example of Egyptian theatrical forms fused with myth and ritual.
The staging for CIFET’s opening ceremony will be directed and choreographed by Walid Aouni, the Cairo-based Lebanese choreographer honoured at last year’s 31st edition for more than three decades of work in Egypt’s modern dance and theatre scene.
Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre
Launched in 1988 by then-culture minister Farouk Hosny, CIFET has long been one of Egypt’s most significant cultural events, designed to place Cairo on the international theatre map. The event is organized by the Ministry of Culture.
For its first two decades, the festival ran over 10 days each September, attracting dozens of Arab and international troupes for awards — at its peak in the late 2000s, CIFET was hosting 40 to 50 performances across multiple venues in Cairo and beyond.
The event was suspended for five years after the January 2011 revolution, before returning in 2016 under Sameh Mahran as its president.
Renamed the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET), it adopted a smaller programme, a shorter run, and dropped its competitive format.
In 2020, during its 27th edition, the festival reverted to its original name and reinstated competition under the late theatre academic and playwright Alaa Abdel-Aziz.
Mahran returned as CIFET president in 2023.
The 32nd edition of CIFET will run from 1 to 8 September, with the full programme still to be announced.
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