The Menad Al Hadja prize has been awarded to the best actress at the Euro-Mediterranean drama festival, which opened last Saturday, according to the Algeria Press Service (APS).
The prize is named after the “extremely generous”Algerian artist and actress, one of the performers in the famous Al Moudja troupe of Mostaganem, who died in an accident last August.
Born into a poor family in the Salamandre district of Mostaganem, Hadja, who died at the age of 20, joined the Al Moudja troupe of Abderrahmane Mostefa and Djillali Benaissa at the age of 10.
She had always wanted to become "an example of the woman of the theatre,” said APS.
She performed several female lead roles, notably in the play Voyages, produced by Al Moudja, and won the special jury award at the 33rd festival of Mostaganem last year.
At the end of her last performance on stage, on the occasion of her troupe's tour around various municipalities in the province of Mostaganem, Hadja made a donation to her seriously ill mother.
By associating her name with the prize, the festival's managers “are indeed paying a great tribute this actress,” said APS – Albawaba.com
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