Libya is holding a one-week theater festival in Benghazi, featuring plays and performances made over the last two years, to promote arts in Libya. The Benghazi Festival for Performing Arts coincides with the 87th anniversary of the creation of the People's Theater, that launched the first theatrical movement in the North African country. Such events in Libya "play a pivotal role in the production of diverse works, making them a reflective theatrical season encapsulating the essence of Libyan theater," said Ali Al-Falah, a Libyan playwright. The festival reopened in 2019 after over a seven-year shutdown, following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed long-serving ruler Moammar Gadhafi.