Sultan Al-Bazai, CEO of the Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Authority, spoke about the main tasks carried out by the Authority, saying: “The main mission of the Authority is to build a strong and sustainable sector that plays its role in cultural life, and for theater and performing arts to be among the offers available to all citizens and residents of high quality throughout the… The kingdom”.
In his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Bazai stated that the Authority is committed to the vision of the National Strategy for Culture, which is for the Kingdom to flourish in various forms of culture, to enrich the individual’s lifestyle and contribute to strengthening national identity. The Authority is also interested in all forms of classical and contemporary theatre, opera, and types of dance, including Popular performing arts, contemporary dance and ballet.
Sultan Al-Bazai, CEO of the Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Authority (Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater)
He pointed out that the Authority is “a regulatory body that works to develop regulations and laws to serve the sector. It also works to build capabilities through training, education, and scholarships, and to support local production and develop the performance of theatrical performing groups by encouraging them to establish legal entities that guarantee sustainability.”
Al-Bazei revealed the latest developments in the first session of the “Riyadh Theater Festival”: “When we announced the start of submission for entries, we set the goal of accepting 20 production projects that will be supported and presented in their regions before the viewing committee decides to choose 10 of them in the festival competition,” stressing that “the works The 20 that were nominated have begun their production phase and are preparing to start the performances to catch up with the date of the festival, which will be held next December… We believe that the most important result is not on the days of the festival, but rather in the case of performances that are held in the various regions of the Kingdom in the presence of the public, as we stipulated that It will be shown for a period of no less than a week, and the audience’s opinion will be an important judging factor in the works’ accession to the festival’s competition.”
Al-Bazai explained, “The National Theater is currently being established as an independent, non-profit entity concerned with major qualitative production, in addition to establishing a theater academy in cooperation with an international partner, and a school theater project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, which aims to train 25,000 male and female teachers so that by the end of next year, 2024, we will have 24 activity supervisors.” Theater in all the Kingdom’s schools for boys and girls.”
Al-Bazei stressed that popular culture and national identity are an integral part of the daily lives of Saudi citizens: “The practice of popular arts is present in people’s lives, even for new generations. In fact, the Theater and Performing Arts Authority and the Music Authority began last year a major project to document the performing and musical arts in all regions.” Kingdom, including recording and videotaping songs. The work has already been completed in the Asir and Al-Baha regions, and we are currently preparing for the second phase, which will include several other regions. We expect to complete the project at the end of next year. This work will enrich the National Cultural Archive with material that will be available to researchers and artists.” .
Sultan Al-Bazai, CEO of the Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Authority (Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater)
Regarding his honor at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater in its 30th session, whose activities were held at the beginning of last September, Al-Bazai said: “When the honor comes from the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater, which is one of the most important and oldest Arab festivals, it is an appreciation for the Saudi experience that… It is characterized by comprehensiveness and depth in construction.”
Al-Bazei concluded: “I did not prepare it as a personal tribute, but rather it is a tribute to a national project that advances the sectors of culture derived from (the Kingdom’s Vision 2030), which considered culture to be one of the most important elements of quality of life.”
