The 10th Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF)

(9-30 October)

 

Falaki Theatre

American University in Cairo, Downtown Campus, 24 Falaki St, Downtown Cairo, Tel 012 88721446

Tarakeeb (France-Egypt) mesmerizing shadow puppetry performance by Compagnie Hekau is about an Egyptian pigeon trainer comes to Paris with his peers to visit a Pigeon Salon. When his friends return home to Egypt, the protagonist chooses to stay in France, dreaming of a new life where he can pursue his passion. His journey to success, however, is paved with obstacles: Paris proves just as harsh as Cairo. In this austere new environment, the trainer must confront his own feelings of isolation as well as the prejudices that some Parisians have against pigeons. Director/Puppeteer/Puppet-builder: Nicole Ayach, Original idea/Puppet-builder: Hany Hommos, Musician and Composer: Mathieu Husson,
Set Design/Puppet-builder: Alix Sulmont, Puppeteer: Adèle Fernique
Composer: Abdallah Abo-Zekry, Lighting: Tatiana Carret 

(27 and 28 October, 8pm).

 

 

Kodak Passageway

Sat 29 and Sun 30, 10- 11pm: Beyond Locality: The Thatcher Effect interactive theatre performance is a powerful exploration of the effects of late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s neoliberal policies at the social level. The performance, created by Abdalla Daif and Lucy Ellinson, aims to highlight the global connectedness of these interventions in a human and relatable way through the experiences of a family in North Wales and a family in Northern Egypt. Using spatial dramaturgy, sound, movement, and English and Arabic language dialogue, the two performers reformulate global incidents they were exposed to and which reshaped their understanding of themselves. 

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The Culture Ministry applies all precautionary and preventive measures with daily sterilization of the theatres in order to ensure the safety of the public, artists and workers.

 

 

 

The Cairo Puppet Theatre
Next to the Al-Attaba Metro Station, Tel 02 2591 0954
Arousty (my doll), a children play directed by Mohamed Nour
(Performances run daily except Tuesdays, 7pm).  

 

 

Cairo Show Theatre

Movenpick Hotel 6th of October, Giza

Yama fi elgerab ya 7awy (the pod is full of surprises) play’s actions happen in the atmosphere of the exciting Alf Leila wa Leila, the story revolves around Shehata the funny resourceful beggar, that was arrested in a robbery accident and led to Al Moataser who orders his hand to be cut off, but he changes his mind in the last minute and decides to use Shehata to kill the Caliph. The task of killing the Caliph turns into a journey full of surprises, its events escalate and intertwine in a breathtaking manner that provokes laughter and tears, and Shehata is always having a way for every impasse 

(29 October and 11 November, 9pm).

 

 

Falaki Theatre

American University in Cairo, Downtown Campus, 24 Falaki St, Downtown Cairo, Tel 012 88721446

The Earth Turns a climate-inspired bilingual (Arabic and English) performance for the lead-up to the COP27 Climate Conference, directed by Adam Marple. Adapted from We Still Have a Chance- 12 Stories for 12 Days of COP27, an anthology of micro-stories created by climate activists, scientists, health professionals, students, and artists from The University of Exeter, Met Office, Ain Shams University, Banlastic, and The American University in Cairo, these stories and this performance were created with the express purpose of humanizing this global problem. The performance is developed in rehearsal with a team of theatre makers (director, writers, designers, actors, and musicians), with every aspect created by the ensemble made to be sustainable (reusable, recyclable, portable, and rechargeable). The Earth Turns aims to draw attention to the human stories behind climate change and to connect an emotional response to an intellectual understanding of the looming environmental crisis. It acts as a centralizing event to a larger conversation, a conversation not only about Climate Change but also about Climate Action. It provides not only an emotional response to the problem but also provides a call to arms toward solutions concluding with a Q&A talk back and audience engagement, led by climate scientists, activists, and artists 

(2 November, 7.30pm and 3 November, 9.30 pm). 

 

 

The Floating Theatre

Abdel-Aziz Al-Saoud St, in front of Salaheddin Mosque, Al Manial, Tel 02 2368 4047, 012 8531 1358/ 0100 5233623

Small Theatre 

101 Isolation, a play casts Abdel-Moneim Riyad, Ahmed Osman, Haidy Abdel-Khalek, Mohamed Mabrouk, Nada Afifi, and many more, written by Ali Abdel-Qawy, décor by Noha Nabil, costumes designed by Heba Magdy, music by Ahmed Nabil and directed by Mohamed Darwish 

(Performances run on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, 8.30pm).

 

 

 

Metropol (The Children’s National) Theatre

6 Halim St, the beginning of 26th July, Attaba, Downtown, Tel 02 2593 3334
Beauty and the Beast, a play for children casts Bahaa Tharwat, Sayed Ragab, Hanaa Said, Ayman Beshay, Nashwa Hassan and many more, written by Nasser Mahmoud and directed by Mahmoud Hassan (Performances run daily except Mondays, 7.30pm).

 

 

Must Opera House 

Al-Motamayez District, next to Dar Al Fouad Hospital, 6 October City, Giza, Tel 01094444273/4/5 – 16828

Anistoona play starring Donia Samir Ghanim, Baioumy Fouad, Karim Afify, Samy Moghawry, Amr Abdel-Aziz, written by Karim Samy, Ahmed Abdel-Wahab, and directed by Khaled Galal

(27, 28, 29 October and 10, 11, 12 November, 8pm). 

 

 

Al-Qawmi (The National) Theatre

Al Attaba Square, in front of Attab Post Office, Cairo, Tel, 02 25917783

Al-Hafeed (The Grandson) play is an adaptation of author Abdel-Hamid Gouda Al-Sahar’s novel. It is a social comedy about the Egyptian family that suffers from the negative impact of customs and traditions on its members and their psychology. The play casts actors Lucy, Abed Enany, Tamer Farag, Mohamed Mabrouk, Rana Khattab and many more, with music composed by Karim Arafa, lighting designed by Hazem Ahmed, décor built up by Hamdy Attiya, and directed by Youssef Al-Mansour (Performances run on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, 9pm).

 

 

Al-Salam Theatre

101 Qasr Al-Aini St, Tel 02 2795 2484/2794 3016/010 21521501  

Youssef Edris Hall

Khetat Cupid (cupid’s plan), a play produced by the Modern Theatre, casts Abdel-Moneim Riyad, Nawal Samir, Kareem El-Husseiny, décor by Ahmed Amin, costumes designed by Rabab El-Prince, lighting by Abu-Bakr Elsherif, and directed by Ahmed Fouad 

(Performances run on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays, 7pm and 9pm). 

 

 

 

El-Sawy Culturewheel
End of 26th of July St, under the 15th of May Bridge, Zamalek, Tel 02 2736 8881/6178/2737 4448

Wisdom Hall

Albishara (good omen) play performed by Al-Ethad Theatre Company, written and directed by Bassem Wafaay (31 October, 7pm).

 

 

Taliaa Theatre

Attaba Square, Tel 02 2593 7948

Salah Abdel-Sabour Hall

Leilat Alqatala (night of the killers) is Jose Triana’s play translated by Fathy El-Ashri and produced by Taliaa Theatre Company, and casts Nashwa Ismail, Emile Shawki, Shaimaa Yousry, décor and costumes designed by Samah Nabil, directed by Sobhy Youssef

(Performances run from 30 October to 4 November, 8pm).  

Zaki Tolaimat Hall

Cela (bond) play is performed by the Faculty of Arts theatre company, Ein Shams University, directed by Ahmed Alaa 

(Performances run daily except Tuesdays, 7pm).

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*A version of this article appears in print in the 27 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.