Ahmed El Sawy

ahmed.Elsawy789@gmail.com
+201281476162

Ahmed El Sawy was born in Alexandria- which is a coastal

city located in North Egypt. It is a cosmopolitan city which
supports arts and respects diversity. Being born and raised in
Alexandria inspired me to perform different types of art with
local and international partners, and that made me open to the
world, widened my perspectives towards life in general, more
accepting to different cultures. El Sawy got involved in the
field of theatre as a trainee in 2005. Theatre workshops
included improvisation, storytelling, dancing, singing, puppet
shows, interactive theatre, the theatre of oppressed, and
reportage theatre. El Sawy started working in the field in 2008
as an actor. Also worked as a trainer, theatre director, and in
the art management field.

Work Experience:

 Project manager for 3 years of "Hypanthia Forum for Cultural Rights and Freedoms” which
includes rights and cultural workshops for theatre performed in different cities.

 Coordinator and Head Logistic Team at Alex Academy International School.

 Executive manager through presenting 14 theatre performances in Cairo Jesuit festival and
performance of troupe la musical managed by director.
 Member of Egyptian project of oppressed theatre and worked as trainer.
 Coordinator with Noon creative enterprise.
 Coordinator at The Egyptian Project for Provoked Theatre.
 Event coordinator in “International Day for Woman, International Day for Children”
 Event coordinator in Disabled Theatre in Bibliotheca Alexandria.
 Event coordinator in “Mobile Films” festival in Alexandria.

Working as trainer and director:

2019:
○ Actor and musician in a puppet show called “Nousa Adventure”. The show was performed 20
times in 8 Egyptian cities.
2018:
○ Trainer and Director of a workshop about theatre of the oppressed that took place in Upper Egypt.
The output was a 30 minutes street performance.
○ Theatre trainer and director in a culture exchange camp in Cairo including trainees from Senegal,
Morocco, Egypt, Belgium, and Togo. A camp output was a performance that I directed about culture
exchange and accepting others.
○ Director of “Beed Melawen” meaning “Colorful Eggs” theatre performance.
○ Theatre instructor at Alex Academy International School.
 2017:
○ In Giran theoretical performance which produced through several workshops in a 5 days camp in
Cairo, Alexandria, Demitta, Port said.
○ worked as trainer at theatre of the oppressed in Assuit with Fekra Foundation and produced
performance in 8 Schools.

2016:
○ Trainer at interactive theatre.
○ Trainer in Asdekaa project for addiction.

2015:
○ Trainer with “Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute” about sexual harassment
○ worked as a trainer in theatre workshops for students, and worked with 8 different schools in
Assuit and Sohag with Noon Creative Enterprise under sponsorship of UNFPA
○ Director assistant in Street Carnival with partnership of Studio Al madina and EU, and the first
phase performed in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Qalubia, Qena, and Luxor.
○ Worked as trainer with Anna Lind foundation, UN Women, Arab young voices, and performed in
the Greek Campus in the exhibitions of International Women's day underage girl's marriage.
○ Worked as theater and storytelling trainer in association with "The Social Association for
Homeless Children in Giza" which was supported by "the Arab Council for Childhood and
Development".

2014:
○ worked as a director for a kids show called "Elganya khokha " and it was performed in the
international day for homeless children
○ Story telling project (the game) performed in Cairo and Alexandria.

2013:
○ Trainer at reportage theater with the Italian director Annet Heinemann.
○ Director and actor at (Meen Antom) show, it is a fusion project between handcuffs and actors.

2012:
○ Actor and director at project (Shabab Sees), which discusses the youth issues and violence against
women.

Acting Experience:

◘ Clowns army by Hans (Netherlands)

◘ Lottery dreams by Annet Heinemann (Italy)
◘ I’m not here (provocation)
◘ Interactive theatere "Hara TV " by Nada Thabet (45 performances in 15 cities with Noon
creative enterprise supported by UN-FPA).
◘ Puppet show "Reshet El Assfour" by Nada Thabet (10 schools in Aswan with Noon Creative
Enterprise supported by UN-FPA)
◘ Al-Hadatha (Morocco)
◘ Interactive theater for children "Sokar" (Morocco and Egypt)
◘ Interactive theater "Hara TV for FGM" by Nada Thabet (100 performance in 18 cities with
Noon creative enterprise supported by UN-FPA)

4 Examples of projects I worked on:

1) The theater of the opressed workshop (Upper Egypt)

Summary:
Upper Egypt is kind of a closed community with harsh habits and traditions on citizens, and
specially on girls. The topic of the workshop was “Harassment” and I preferred to highlight the
issue of harassment -that girls in Upper Egypt are facing- through theatre of the oppressed.

Process:
The workshop lasted for 6 days. Participants took part in games and trainings as an application on
theatre of the oppressed. The main story of the workshop was based on a true story of one of the fe-
male participants. Later on, actors took their roles, oppressing and oppressed characters were se-
lected, and also the godfather. Godfather is the one who simplifies the performance and interact
with audience. On the last day, we moved to an open-air place in the street for our final perfor-
mance.

Outcome:
Most of the participants got the chance to act for the first time in their life through this workshop.
They gained some really important experience in acting in streets, learned about theatre of the op-
pressed, learned how to direct their performances themselves, and most importantly, dealing and
interacting with the audience with no shame or fear. Some of the audience participated to find a so-
lution to eliminate the issue of harassment in Upper Egypt. Solutions were strong and effective.
Perfomance link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vbWm7i1WP8&t=3s
2) Geran "Neighbours"
 Summary:
Interactive theatre performed by 20 actors, actresses, musicians -who played live music on stage-,
and singers. The performance was the outcome of a 5 days workshop -10 working hours per day.
The performance was developed after the camp, and it was performed in different cities in Egypt.

 Process:
 At first, crew members went through an audition for 2 days as a workshop, and they were selected
according to their level of motivation, commitment, and flexibility to go for the 5 days camp
experience.
 Where we were camping was such a beautiful place full of green spaces and trees and was inspiring
to create one of a kind theatre performance.
On the first and second days, we started to train on improvisation, storytelling, singing, dancing,
and fighting. On the third day, we worked on the modality of showing emotions to one another. We
also trained the participant on art therapy related subjects, and we talked about racism and accepting
others’ differences. On the fourth and fifth days, we worked on some realistic acting scenes that
were originally taken from real situations that the participants have been through. These situations
were related to discrimination in terms of skin color, sex, race, religious beliefs, body shape,
standard of level, functional hierarchy. By the end of the fifth day, the performance took place with
big number of attendees.
After the camp, we developed the performance in 8 rehearsals and was professionally done in 4
Egyptian governorates; Port Said, Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta.

Outcome:
Participants have gained expected results of being self-confident through the different theatre
practices and art therapy. Also, they have gained the skill of group work and adaption with others no
matter how different they are.

Rehearsals o the performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1WSd_GueWw&t=2s

Rehearsals of the camp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQr_AgT3ZHY&t=2s
Shots from the live performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQUTdkPw_TA

3) Theater workshop for students (Upper Egypt)

 Summary:
I worked as a trainer in theatre workshops for students, and worked with 8 different schools in
Assuit and Sohag with Noon Creative Enterprise under sponsorship of UNFPA. The project subject
was “Female Circumcision” through a workshop in theatre, dance, and singing.
 As previously mentioned in the first project that Upper Egypt is a closed community that lacks art,
but those who work in the field of development and cultures always seek developing such closed
societies and work on developing them and their people. In this project, we worked with children of
Upper Egypt in cooperation with UNFBA.
 The project subject was “Female Circumcision” through a workshop in theatre, dance, and singing.

 Process:
 Getting to know the children and give them the space to choose which type of art they would like
take part in. Then they get to work in groups in ordered to enhance their self-confidence and let the
fear go. They had exercises for memory and focus.
 On the second day, a theatrical text or a song has to be written whether it is based on stories that
happened to them in real life or not. Then participants take their roles.
On the third day, we make a 10 minutes performance and invite the children’s families, teachers,
and whomever interested in the subject of the workshop.

Outcome:
create a safe environment for the children in order for them to be able to express themselves and
give them the space to tell their stories and say their opinions.
Gaining knowledge about female circumcision (modality, drawbacks, who does it, awareness about
the issue, solutions to eliminate it)
Group work, and having fun through the theatre performance.

Trainings link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtRMIBg0IRA

 4) Theater Play "The Game"

Sumary:
The show was about stories of 3 girls about love, fear, and loneliness they are going through in an
eastern society that doesn’t give them the space to express their feelings freely. The method by
which the project was done was improvisation within a number of meetings that were held with the
3 girls to tell about their love and fear stories, and accordingly, a drama piece of art was built. The
show included live music and dance.

 Process:
 The method by which the project was done was improvisation within a number of meetings that
were held with the 3 girls to tell about their love and fear stories, and accordingly, a drama piece of
art was built. The show included live music and dance.
 Participants were trained on how to improvise using different storytelling techniques, how to
interact with audience, and how to show their real feelings.

Performance link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOoZBWtufpU&t=213s