Arab Theatre Festival 12 Inauguration in Amman, On Friday

Abdallah: “We are hoping this session to be a milestone in the march of the festival”

Al Barari: “The ministry of culture works to make this festival a great success”

Al Khatib: “The association and the ministry are collaborating to facilitate the tasks for the festival”

Ghannam: “The intellectual conference answers some of the Arab festival’s questions”

Al Naffali: “Fifteen Arab plays of two tracks will be screened on three theatres in Amman

mnc daily: Amman

mnc daily: Amman

The Secretary General of the Arab Theatre Institute, “Ismail Abdullah”, revealed the activities of the twelfth session of Arab Theatre Festival, which will start on Friday 10 until 16-January 2020, at 6 p.m. at the culture palace, and will witness the presentation of about 15 theatrical performances; from Jordan and various Arab countries, along with intellectual and artistic symposia and honoring a number of Jordanian artists.

“ Abdullah”, during the press conference that was facilitated by  “Rasmi Mahasneh” and held in the presence of the Secretary General of the Jordanian Ministry of Culture, Hazza Al Barari, and the captain of the Jordanian Artists Syndicate, Chairman of the Executive High Committee Hussein Al-Khatib, thanked and appreciated His Majesty King Abdullah II for his patronage of this festival, noting that this sponsorship will give an important and positive push to move forward with the theatre project, whether it was in Jordan or in the Arab world.

Al-Abdullah recalled the fourth session held in 2012 in Jordan, stressing that it was a watershed session in the march of the Arab Theatre Festival, hoping that “this twelfth session will mark the march of this festival.”

For his part, the head of the Supreme Committee of the Festival Hussein Al-Khatib said that the Arab Theatre Festival, is one of the honors of His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Which influenced him to move towards culture, arts and theatre, stressing that the Jordanian Artists Syndicate agreed through communication with the Minister of Culture and many concerned authorities to prepare the festival’s infrastructure, and to overcome difficulties and obstacles.

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, Hazza Al Barari, affirmed in turn that the most important feature in Amman is the Roman amphitheatre, indicating that Jordan is culturally depending on 4 large theatres distributed in various parts of the Kingdom.

“We are proud that the theatre in Jordan was a race to establish the modern Jordanian state in 1921, where the first theatrical show was documented in 1918, and before this documentation there were theatrical performances that were not previously documented,” Al Barari added. “From this standpoint, we see that Amman is not just a place and a container, rather, it is a product of civilization and culture, and it is a point and a focus for artists. “

Al-Barari stressed that Amman is worthy of theatre and the inclusion of this course with royal patronage, is the best evidence that theatre is not a margin, but is seen as a real and important achievement and an identity of the homeland.

Al-Barari concluded his speech with the readiness of the Ministry of Culture to serve this festival, whether through the infrastructure of the Ministry of Culture, cultural centres, technicians and the logistical services it provides.

On the intellectual conference that accompanies the festival, theatrical artist Ghannam Ghannam indicated that the conference is not only intellectual, but there is an operational aspect, and he answered some of the questions that arise about the Arab theatre; the most important of which is the absence of the theoretical statement of Arab theatre.

Ghannam stressed that in Jordan there are active teams and have a footprint on the Arab level and have their achievement that distinguishes them, which prompted us to put a question on the experience of each group.

Ghannam indicated that this year’s intellectual conference will witness the departure from the podium and going to the practical exercise.

In turn, Hassan Nafali, the administration and coordination official at the festival said that there are two tracks for the festival presentations, where the first track will include six theatre performances and the other track is that of the award of His Highness Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi for the best Arab theatrical work for the year 2019, and includes 9 theatrical performances representing 8 Arab countries and distributed as follows: From Morocco 3 works, Jordan 2, Syria 2, Kuwait 2, Tunisia 2, UAE 1, Egypt 1, and from Algeria 2.

 These performances will be shown in the three theatres: Al-Hussein Theatre, Hani Snober Theatre, Al-Shams Theatre, and one show, which will be in the circular theatre of the Royal Cultural Centre.

The press conference witnessed many questions from some journalists and writers about the nature of the performances, the participating countries and awards.