Actor Nasser Abd Al-Ridha revealed the latest preparations for the new play, “Al-Ghepa,” which will be presented by the Qatar Theater Troupe on March 22, as part of the Doha Theater Festival. The festival will be held by the Ministry of Culture, managed by the Theater Affairs Center on March 16-27, at Katara Drama Theater in conjunction with the celebration of World Theater Day. Taleb Al-Doss and stars Ghazi Hassan, Faisal Rasheed, Ahmed Al-Aqlan, Mohammed Al-Saeigh, Nasser Habib, Omar Abu Saqr, and a number of promising young actors and actresses in Qatari theater wrote the play.
Nassir Abdul Ridha, the director of the play, said, the story of the play is set on the back of a pearl-seeking vessel, where the sea and diving life are taking place. He continued, adding that it is a heritage play. It includes a review of some marine arts and tells a series of events that deal with the lives of seafarers. The play highlights what the seafarers are exposed to sedition among themselves while on a cruise with a helmet.
The director noted that the play includes old Gulf musical rhythms, in which Al-Naham plays an important role in events, which is considered one of the most difficult folk singing art and one of the marine arts that specialized in singing men during hunting trips. Through Al-Naham, events are introduced and painted at the same time with the traditional color.
Regarding the group’s current preparations for the performance, he explained that they have completed a large part of their work training. They work as hard as they can to reach full preparedness despite time constraints. The rehearsals for the play are currently being performed in one of the halls Katara provided them with, he said, before they take over the theater, which will be presented at the festival shortly before the show.
Commenting on the return of the Doha Theater Festival to work after a period of five years, Abd Al-Ridha expressed his optimism about the Qatari theater, and thanked HE the Minister of Culture for the return of the festival to its status as the oldest festival in the Gulf,
He also thanked the Theater Affairs Center for its interaction and for meeting the aspirations of the theater people. The return of the festival as it will be this year is an important step in the right direction. However, he hopes that this will return to the way it was in the past, with the increase in the number of shows, the involvement of private institutions, the intensification of competition in an official competition, and the reception of the major theatrical figures in the Arab world as guests for the festival,
This year’s program includes five university theater performances, all of which belong to the category of international plays, three performances by private theater groups, three official seminars, eight applied seminars, and a special theater show titled “Star Theater”, produced by the theater’s affairs. The festival also includes a series of seminars, including research papers, as well as applied seminars that will follow up on the shows.