International Theatre Festival of Algiers

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers hosts international theatre event

October 15, 2010 -- The International Theatre Festival of Algiers (FITA) opened on Thursday (October 14th), APS reported. The ten-day event will feature performances by theatre troupes from 18 countries. The programme also includes six workshops.

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers festival revives old tradition for young audience

October 24, 2010 -- An old tradition has been in the spotlight for nearly two weeks in Algiers. The city's 2nd International Theatre Festival (FITA) offered a unique opportunity to showcase the country's rich and varied oral heritage. FITA, which ends its 12-day run on Monday (October 25th), also aimed at inspiring love for theatre among Algerian youths. "Heritage is about sharing, with no boundaries", said festival commissioner Brahim Noual. "This means we have something in common to share with our brothers from Morocco, Tunisia and the Maghreb in general, not to mention that we share a lot with the world heritage and its extraordinary wealth," he said, adding that it is necessary to enforce elements of culture and identity in the era of globalisation.

The twelve-day event brought together artists and playwrights from Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Argentina, Belgium, Congo-Brazzaville, Niger, Oman, Italy, France, Russia, Togo, Mali, Benin and Germany. Culture Minister Khalida Toumi inaugurated the festival, expressing desire to build a "universal spirit" in line with Algerian "culture marked by the exchange of experiences and ideas". One Algerian troupe reflected the mix of sources and inspiration. Gaouels, from Ain Sefra, mixed Emile Zola classsics with anecdotes and lessons from Algerian life. The programme also included international plays such as 'Til death do us part (Argentina), Djisroun ila l’abad and Aid ila Haifa (Palestine), Mama tosbihina ala Kheir (Morocco) and In the beginning was the verb (Congo).

The organisers hoped that the event would become a space for promoting and teaching oral heritage to younger generations in order to ensure its preservation and transmission. Several training workshops were set up for theatre lovers eager to improve their acting, staging, technique and stage design skills. According to festival communication officer Feth El Nour Benbrahim, the event is akin to "cultural militancy for an Algeria that finds expression in beauty and aesthetics and aspires to the subliminal".

Abderrahmane Benziane, a Moroccan artist honoured at the event, described the festival as a real "bargain" since it allows intellectuals and artists to meet and communicate not only with their Maghrebi counterparts but with intellectuals worldwide. "It's been long since we saw plays of this quality in the Algerian National Theatre," said Messaoud, 45, regretting that years of terrorism and assassinations of major playwrights undermined Algerians' gusto for theatre. He expressed his wish that the state would hold more events of this kind to rekindle the old tradition that tends to be disappearing.