The 24th Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET) kicked off Sept. 19 with 27 local and international performances by professional theater companies from the United States, Russia, Chile, Iraq, Morocco and Jordan.
The festival, which is sponsored by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and lasts until Sept. 29, is one of the biggest international theater festivals in Egypt. It is also one of the most controversial, ever since its founding in 1988, as advocates of traditional theater criticize its experimental aspects as elitist and detached from what audiences are interested in watching.
