Hakawy Festival: Imago Theatre performs for kids at cancer hospital, Falaky academy

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Thu, 07 Mar 2019 - 11:46 GMT

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Thu, 07 Mar 2019 - 11:46 GMT

US artist band Imago Theatre during performance at Falaki Theatre- press photo

US artist band Imago Theatre during performance at Falaki Theatre- press photo

CAIRO – 8 March 2019: US artist band Imago Theatre participated in this year’s Hakawy International Arts Festival, where they performed in Cairo and Alexandria, attracting dozens of children who attended their mask and movement theatre.

In this 9th edition of Hakawy, the festival aspires to involve over 7000 children and their families. It brings to the stage international and local performances designed for children and presents them in a vibrant week-long festival, with the aim of educating and entertaining children.

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US artist band Imago Theatre during performance at Falay Theatre - press photo


The US embassy supports the festival this year through an American production called “ZooZoo” by the American company Imago Theatre.

Founded 32 years ago, Imago Theatre is a Montreal-based independent, professional theatre company that is known for producing socially relevant work.

Egypt Today sat with the five-member team of artists who performed at Children’s Cancer Hospital, Falaky Theatre and Bibliotheque Alexandrina as part of the program, where they shared their impressions on their first visit to Egypt, and the children’s reactions to their shows.

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US artist band Imago Theatre during visit to Cancer hospital - press photo


The band said that the perform original work, and that their company has travelled over the past years around the world.

Laura Loy, one of the performers, commented on Zoozoo show that they performed Thursday night at Falaki Theatre, saying that the show “has a bunch of eccentric characters and animals…it is like watching a live animation.”

Another performer is Fiely Almeda who said that the show attracts different audience of different ages, “kids as young as five love our shows.”

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US artist band Imago Theatre during visit to Cancer hospital 57357- Nourhan Magdi/Egypt Today


They further explained how their shows broke any language barriers when performing to Egyptian children saying, “there is not talking in our shows, the language that we use is a universal language; movement and humor,” said Brian, one of the performers.

“Also, the themes in the show everyone can related to, like the hippos trying to fall asleep, or order food… humor is international especially when it is done physically and laughing is global,” said Fiely Almeda.

“It was amazing that this place is doing all of this for free and children do not have to pay for it…there are no many places like this one,” said Kaician. “When I walked into a room, I was a penguin and there was a girl sitting in her bed…and she opened up her coloring book and showed us a penguin she was coloring…and she said you are more beautiful than the [drawing] was.”

The team explained that performing to children with disease was an incredible experience to them, as they believed they are not just entertainers, that they are also giving joy to souls that already need it. “In fact, they were giving us joy,” said Brian.

Exploring Egyptian food, the team expressed their delight after trying Koshari, adding that they found the vegetables and fruits delicious and various.

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Imago Theatre during an interview with the press - press photo

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