Article
Avant-garde workshop
The oldest independent theatrical group in Egypt is led by Hassan El-Geretly and is devoted to various cultural activities. Beginning with European drama it moved on to popular Egyptian traditions of performance, which are carefully continued by professionals and amateurs.
El-Warsha is the oldest independent theatrical group in Egypt and led by Hassan El-Geretly. ´El-Warsha´ is the Arabic word for ´workshop´, and the group´s creative process is marked by experimentation, a wide range of activities and a team-structure open equally to professional performers, students and workers. After staging European dramas from Pinter, Kafka and Handke at the end of the 80s, El-Warsha turned to renewing Egyptian traditions of performance like shadow-puppets, story-telling and stick-fighting (tahtib). Recently the group has been working on a new version of the old tale ´Hilaliyya´ from Upper Egypt. It brings culture to children and youths, organises the drama festival of Amman with the Jordanian theatrical group El-Fawanees, and has launched the Arab Arts Project - an artists´ network for improving exchange and co-operation.
Author: Brigitte Heilmann
Projects
This artist took part in the following project(s) organized/funded by the culturebase.net partner institutions.