APA-Rabat (Morocco) The Moroccan capital Rabat is hosting the first edition of the African Theatre Festival, an occasion to honor those who are reputed to take this art genre to a high level of expression and creativity.
The opening of the first edition of the African Theatre Festival happens at the Mohammed V Theater in Rabat on Monday in the presence of the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid.
Initiated by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture in partnership with the Collective ‘Eclat de Lune’ (Moonlight), this event aims to “highlight the richness and diversity of contemporary African theater,” organisers say in a statement.
This maiden edition, which is part of celebrating Rabat African Capital of Culture, will bring together companies from ten different countries. In addition to Morocco, groups from the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Guinea, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali, Cameroon, Kenya, the Comoros Islands and Benin will take part in this cultural event with an exclusively African touch.
The programming of this first edition offers a “new vision of contemporary African theater, carried by authors and emerging directors of international renown,” organisers note.
The festival will also be an opportunity to honor the creativity of women and men who have always known how to make the theater in Africa a place of expression and creation, at the crossroads of cultural wealth and commitments of an entire continent.
Moreover, a rich and varied program of theatrical performances, but also round tables, will offer the public a special space for exchange and debate.
This first edition “is a springboard for the development of creative and cultural industries in our countries, especially for the promotion and influence of African culture,” organisers add.
Roundtables will offer the public a special space for exchange and debate.
“Theater in Africa, state of play and prospects,” “How to rethink festivals in Africa” and “How to create a dynamic between the schools of theater on the continent” are all themes that are expected to feed fruitful exchanges.
Also on the menu are visits to establishments and institutions related to the 4th art, as well as meetings with the aim of analysing and discussing the realities of different disciplines related to the theatre, through inclusivity.
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