The Saudi theater is preparing for a significant leap in the coming phase. The Theater and Performing Arts Authority has unveiled a new strategy focusing on establishing an integral theater industry that documents local stories, and provides empowerment opportunities in the theater-related fields.
The announcement came during an event held under the patronage of Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture and head of the Theater and Performing Arts Authority, and attended by prominent playwrights, artists, and media figures at the King Fahad Cultural Center on July 14. It was also attended by Hamed Fayez, deputy minister of culture, who promised a whole development of the sector in his keynote.
The strategy introduced by the authority included a short film, educational and academic projects and plans to establish theaters in partnership with other concerned authorities, improvement of theater education and inclusion of theater activities in educational institutions. It also demonstrated the school theater initiative aiming at training 25,000 teachers (from both genders) within three years to serve as theater supervisors in public schools in collaboration with the education ministry, in addition to providing theater-related majors in the higher education curricula, and scholarships abroad to develop skills in this sector.
The authority also revealed plans to establish the first academy of theater and performing arts by the end of this year, in collaboration with an international partner specialized in theater and performing arts studies.
Regarding the infrastructure, the authority plans to build small theaters in all the kingdom's provinces as part of the Culture Houses Project adopted by the Libraries Authority, which will work on creating an environment that incubates ideas, small plays, and activities of theater groups. It will also provide a constant maintenance of theater assets, launch programs, and host performances all over the year. The authority is currently working on building an integral theatrical environment to achieve a more efficient performance across the kingdom. This system is based on key elements including the national theater, professional theater, regional theater, and social theater.
In a keynote he addressed on behalf of playwrights and actors, Artist Ibrahim al-Hasawi said a theater artist has the right to find a place where he can practice his passion, and authorities that take care of him and defend his rights. He also called for the reopening of school theater, where he learned what school books don't teach, saying: "On stage, I learned what is nation, love, cohabitation, and peace. I learned to invest my time, and that theater is not a place to waste my life."
"We want a theater with a high standards and a heard voice…A theater that brightens the path of those struggling, and enlightens the obscurity of minds and souls…A Saudi theater that is like us, close to us…and this is not impossible in our country," he concluded.
