El Bugaa festival launched in Sudan on World Theatre Day

Sudan’s National Council for Culture and Arts will today inaugurate the 20th edition of El Bugaa Theatre Festival*, coinciding with World Theatre Day. However the Sudanese Professionals Association has called for a boycott of the festival, calling it “inappropriate in the current climate”.

The NCCA Secretary-General , Mowafaq Abdulrahman, said El Bugaa Festival has contributed since it was founded to movement of the cultural and theatrical creativity in Sudan.

He said El Bugaa Festival was a pure Sudanese cultural product that deserves observance , stressing commitment of the NCCA and Ministry of Culture to encourage and support the Festival.

Boycott

The Sudanese Professionals Association, a major force behind the current campaign of mass anti-government protests, says the festival “came at a time when the people of Sudan are leading an uprising”. The association said it was inappropriate “to hold false weddings while the Sudanese people mourn their martyrs”.

The Chairman of Sudan National Theatre, Ali Mahdi, affirmed that all preparations have been finalized for launching the 20 edition of the festival , disclosing that 15 theatrical shows would be presented at the capital and the states.

Workshops

Chairman of the Festival, Dr Fadlalla Ahmed Abdalla indicated that a number of workshops and symposiums will accompany presentation of shows at the National Theatre , a joint French-Algerian show and two shows from Egypt and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 3 April.

Festival Director, Abdulmonem Osman, unveiled that two theatrical works would be presented daily during the period of the festival with wide participation from theatre troupes and groups from Khartoum and states of El Gezira , Kassala and White Nile.

* Since the establishment in 2000, the annual El Bugaa Theatre Festival has been aimed at opening a space for young people and presenting different theatrical shows, which has helped revive the Sudanese theatre movement.

This year, many Arab, African and Western countries, Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE, Algeria, France and Zimbabwe will participate in the festival.

In addition to the international participations, many Sudanese states will participate by their theatrical performances, as well as performances within the theatre represented by the National Theatre Ensemble, and the file of participation and competition is open to all Sudanese theatre actors.