Friday March 29th, 2024
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D-CAF: Performing Arts Guide

Cairo culture vultures are set for another fun-packed week of performing arts treats with the second week of the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival. Here's your official guide...

Staff Writer

Cairo culture vultures are set for another fun-packed week of highbrow performing arts treats. The first week of the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival saw audiences be amazed by mind-bending dance performances by Danish performance artist, Lotte Sigh - meanwhile Billy Cowie's 'Art of Movement' packed out the cosy Hotel Viennoise leaving crowds spellbound with an imaginative and inspiring show. However those fiendish D-Caffers aren't stopping there as they have an absolutely spiffing programme of events planned for the remaindar of the festival.

Violence Lointaine (April 3/4 - 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM - Talee’a Large Theatre, Zaki Tolaymat Hall)
The fun includes Violence Lointaine, a 60-minute dance performance, made up of audio-visual fragments arranged to make a storyline that reflects the artists’ personal experiences with violence. 

C'est du Chinois (March 28/29 - 8/9PM - Falaki Theatre)
Meanwhile Edit Kaldor's, C’est du Chinois piece tells the tale of five Chinese citizens who will take to the stage speaking only in their native Mandarin.


Last Supper ( April 3/4 - 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Falaki Theatre)
The week's performing arts calander also includes a show stopping performance of Ahmed El Attar's Last Supper, which tells the story of a wealthy Egyptian family gathering around the dinner table; expect a feast of nihilism, absurdity and apathy.

On the Importance of Being an Arab (April 6 - 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM - Rawabet Theatre)
Ahmed El Attar takes to the stage as both the subject and the presenter of the material, based on his own life. However, in spite of the title this performance will neither tell his life story nor explain the Arab identity. Mystery ensues.

 

It Happened Tomorrow (April 5/6 - 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Talee’a Small Theatre: Salah Abdel Sabour Hall)
This piece celebrates theatre's possibilities using two feminist monologues from the late seventies by Dario Fo and Franca Ramie, and a scene from the English play, Shopping & Fucking. The story revolves around characters who find themselves in a peculiar meeting, and the performance questions a world that’s becoming increasingly harsh. 

Le Prince Séquestré (April 8/9 - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM - El Warsha)
Le Prince Séquestré’ follows an encounter between two friends who haven’t seen each other in years and who do not recognise one another in a world that is changing for the worse. 



No Exit (6/7 April - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM - The Arayes Theatre: Cairo Puppets Theatre)
Based on the 1944 existential play by Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit observes three characters doomed to an eternity in hell, where their punishment is simply each other’s company. Alternating between three languages, English, Arabic and French, the dialogue is focused on unravelling the sins of their fellow inmates.

El Warsha Double Bill (April 5 - 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM - El Warsha)
The double bill features Zawaya: Testimonies from the Revolution – a piece presenting the testimonies and perspectives of five different Egyptian characters: the mother of a martyr, a member of Ultras Ahlawi, a human rights activist, an army officer, and a paid thug. 

The second movie The Hour of Curfew is a 'music hall' production which takes a look at the corruption in our society, one that seems impossible to eradicate, and evokes the values that are still our basic demands, such as freedom and social justice.

Dance Double Bill (April 5/6 - 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Falaki Theatre)
The Dance Double bill features An Empty House for Hospitality, a production based on the tension that occurs between a host and their guest; it addresses issues related to hospitality, questioning the nature of that intricate relationship and how it exists.

The second dance double bill What is Left addresses the issue of society and the human being’s detrimental relationship with it.

In all in all, an absolutely cracking week and bit of culture to come!