According to the organizers, the October program reflects the theater’s commitment to offering a range of artistic experiences, opening its doors to discussion and exchange, and showcasing Moroccan and international creative work. The venue aims to remain open to different forms of artistic and cultural expression.
The month’s program opens on Saturday, October 3, with a screening of Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi’s Summer Days, a comedy-drama loosely adapted from Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.
The film follows Jalila as she returns to Morocco after a long absence, only to find her family facing bankruptcy and unresolved tensions from the past. Schemes, forbidden love and generational clashes gradually expose the secrets of an eccentric aristocratic family in a story about memory, loss and impossible reconciliations.
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The cast includes Mouna Fettou, Mohcine Malzi, Nozha Rehail, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Nadia Kounda, Abdo Taleb, Hasnaa Moumni, Mohamed Choubi, Nourredine Saadan, Said Bey, Abderrahim Samadi and Mustapha Houchine.
Following the screening, audiences will meet director Faouzi Bensaïdi for an open discussion titled Between Theater and Cinema. The session will explore his creative career and his work across stage and screen, as well as the points where theatrical expression and cinematic language intersect. It will also look at how theater and cinema can enrich one another through the use of the body, performance, space, image and storytelling.
The discussion will give audiences an opportunity to learn more about the director’s career and the artistic questions that have shaped his work in both fields.
On Wednesday, October 14, Riad Sultan Theatre will stage Jerusalem, written and directed by Ismaïl Saïdi. The play delves into the history and memory of Jerusalem, drawing on the many stories and perspectives associated with the city. Different voices and narratives intersect as the production explores a place shaped by multiple histories, cultures and collective memories.
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The cast features Inès Feuil-Rochant, Fiona Levy and Ismaïl Saïdi, in a theatrical experience that looks at Jerusalem through a human and memory-centered lens, bringing together the voices and narratives that shape its relationship with its past.
On Friday, October 16, the theater will host a cultural event organized by the Association Al Boughaz, titled Mustapha Bennis: A Tangier Symphony. The event will revisit the career of Tangier-born composer and radio director Mustapha Bennis through a presentation by poet, artist and researcher Mohamed El Haddouchi El Waryaghli. The discussion will trace Bennis’ rich career, from the Kasbah neighborhood to the worlds of music and radio and his engagement with international artistic experiences.
It will also explore the deep connection between the artist and Tangier, and how the city’s sounds, memory and cultural diversity became a lasting source of inspiration in his creative work.
Music will take a prominent place in the October program on Thursday, October 22, and Saturday, October 24, with performances by the Georges Courpet Quartet. The concerts will pay tribute to trumpeter Georges Courpet, a prominent figure in the French music scene who accompanied several major French singers, including Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou and Sylvie Vartan.
The quartet features Michel Dezairi on vocals, Benjamin Baria on piano and Frédéric Quadros on drums. Their performances will revisit a repertoire associated with major names in French music, blending jazz, French chanson and musical memory.
As part of its focus on environmental and social issues, the theater will host a new edition of AMEDEBAT on Thursday, October 29, under the title Biodiversity and Land Management: What Challenges? What Civic Responsibilities? The discussion will examine the role of citizens in protecting and promoting biodiversity, as well as the relationship between land management and the protection of natural resources.
It will also explore ways to balance the use of natural and urban spaces with biodiversity conservation and long-term sustainability. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Abdellah Chichi, vice president of the Moroccan Association for Sustainable Environment.
The October arts program will close on Friday, October 30, with the play My Life, My Challenges and My Daughters, written by Saïd Ben Ali and Nadia El Ammari and directed by Saïd Ben Ali, starring Nadia El Ammari and Fawzia Beloundi.
The play explores family relationships, personal challenges and bonds between generations through a story that combines humor and emotion. It looks at women’s experiences and concerns, as well as the challenges that shape their lives and relationships with their daughters. Presented in an intimate, social and human setting, the production offers a chance to reflect on family relationships and the changes that shape women’s everyday lives across generations.
Alongside these events, Riad Sultan Theatre will continue its training program throughout the cultural season with a series of workshops for different age groups. These include the Actor/Action workshop for adults, led by artist and theater researcher Nourredine Zioual.
The workshop aims to help actors explore their internal and external tools, from the body and voice to imagination, through exercises focusing on the senses, breathing, balance, attention, movement and improvisation. It is based on practical analysis of action and an approach to lived experience influenced by the Stanislavski school.
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The theater will also continue its circus and theater workshops for children aged 7 to 17 from the Kasbah and the old city, led by Ayoub Lahlouh, Ghizlane Azar and Aziz Allouch. The workshops are designed to develop physical skills while building confidence and teamwork through circus and theater games and techniques. The program runs from October through July, with children attending on a regular basis.
The theater also hosts a contemporary dance workshop for adults with French artist, dancer and choreographer Emmanuelle Beauvois. She has worked on a number of theater productions since the late 1990s, both as a performer and choreographer, with a focus on movement, the body and stage presence. The workshop is part of the theater’s efforts to introduce audiences to different contemporary dance practices and approaches.
