Africalia's 25th anniversary at the Kinshasa Dramaturgic Meetings

From June 9th to 11th, we celebrated the 25 years of Africalia to Kinshasa Dramaturgic Meetings. Our partner the Tarmac des Auteurs kicked off our anniversary celebrations on the African continent. For three days, the biannual stage reading festival delighted audiences with plays on the theme of love. The closing day was dedicated to our 25th anniversary.

The Dramaturgical Meetings

In June 2025, the Tarmac des Auteurs organized the fourth edition of its stage reading festival "Les Rencontres Dramaturgiques de Kinshasa," an initiative launched in 2019. The festival provides a platform for authors to read their plays. To ensure that artists can best prepare for the festival, the Tarmac invites a seasoned theater professional each time to coach their acting, supervise rehearsals, and stage performances. This year, Moroccan actress and director Sanae Assif was the guest in Kinshasa.

Love in all its forms

After approximately ten days of meticulous preparation, the actors were able to present the fruits of their labor on stage during the three days of the Rencontres Dramaturgiques. For this fourth edition of the festival, on the occasion of Africalia's anniversary, Tarmac chose love as the central theme of the plays presented. The organizers explain why: "Talking about love today means taking stock of the human situation." The festival program included both classic and new texts.

For the festival's opening night, young actors, both experienced and new, reinterpreted William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." For many of them, it was a real discovery. Watch here how they brought their personal touch to this iconic work! On Tuesday, June 10, the actors embarked on a more experimental approach with Joël Pommerat's more modern work "The Reunification of the Two Koreas."

Africalia 25

The closing day was entirely dedicated to Africalia's 25th anniversary and marked our long-standing partnership with Tarmac des Auteurs. The evening began with a meeting bringing together cultural operators, artists, and Africalia partners. Together, they highlighted the decisive impact of Africalia's support in the professionalization of operators, authors, and actors. After the round table discussion, the festival ended on a humorous note with a stage reading of Shinzo Aanza's "Histoire générale des murs," directed by Noël Kitenge. The cocktail reception that followed the performance was the icing on the cake to kick off our anniversary celebrations!