‘Salem’s Witches’ threatens to withdraw from Ntl Theater Festival

CAIRO – 24 July 2017: Director of theater performance ‘Salem’s Witches’ Mohamed Abdel Mawly complained of facing some obstacle with producing the play in the 10th edition of the Egyptian National Theater Festival on Monday.

‘Salem’s Witches’ had previously won first place in the International Theater Festival for Theatrical Arts and was expected to showcase in the Egyptian National Theater Festival on Tuesday.

“We were not allowed to perform our rehearsals at the Arts Academy where security banned us from entering on July 23, claiming it was a national holiday even though we held the required permits,” Abdel Mawly told Egypt Today.

He added that the group had been awaiting a budget from the academy to fund the performance; however only a small part of the budget has been received. He further clarified that the group may withdrawal from the festival if this continues.

“We complained about this to the president of the festival Hassan Attia two days ago but the possibility of withdrawal may not happen because the festival will then impose a penalty on the academy, therefore we will proceed with participation with a lower quality performance unless we acquire the budget within today,” Abdel Mawly emphasized.

Festival president in response is currently communicating with Ahlam Younis the president of the Arts Academy to resolve the problem, according to a released statement by the festival.

The 10th edition, which is running from July 13 - 27, is named after the late Nehad Seleha in honor of the renowned theater critic.

Read more about festival here.