Shubbak @ Gate
A story of love, passion and unfulfilled desire told with live music. Often described as the Arab Romeo and Juliet, Amer Hlehel (★★★★★ Taha, Young Vic) transforms poet Qassim Haddad’s powerful story into a live experience. Moving between Arabic and English and reinterpreted with live music, this is an epic drama not to be missed.
Palestinian/Danish/US-based artist Mette Loulou von Kohl grapples with her own position on racism, orientalism, sexuality, resistance and activism in No One Likes An Ugly Revolutionary, while Lebanese writer, actor and spoken word artist Dima Mikhayel Matta draws a powerful picture of her queer existence in relation to Beirut in This Is Not A Memorized Script, This Is A Well-Rehearsed Story.
Conjuring up complex and wondrous images and optical illusions, ēvolvō follows a journey from idyllic nature in the mountains of Lebanon to the busy street-life of Beirut. A strange creature invades the city: is it an ancient monster or an image of the city drowning in plastic pollution? This is a magic visual delight filled with wonder and surprises.
Conjuring up complex and wondrous images and optical illusions, ēvolvō follows a journey from idyllic nature in the mountains of Lebanon to the busy street-life of Beirut. A strange creature invades the city: is it an ancient monster or an image of the city drowning in plastic pollution? This is a magic visual delight filled with wonder and surprises.
Fifty-something Lebanese performer Hanane Hajj Ali jogs every day to avoid osteoporosis, obesityand depression. Her route takes her through her own personal spaces of Beirut, revisiting roles, characters, desires, aspirations and disappointments along the way. Alone on a bare stage, Hanane – woman, wife and mother – compares herself with Medea figures: the mythological and everyday Beirut woman. Jogging | جوغينغ is a meditation on motherhood and the ever-changing city of Beirut.
Forty-year-old Syrian cinematographer Jamal is obsessed with the idea of losing his past. Confronted with the notion that places from his memory have been abandoned or destroyed, he weaves together fragments of narratives into a reflection of how we can possibly understand the present. Under a Low Sky | تحت سماء واطئة is a reflection on Syria’s past in an attempt to understand the present
An award-winning show from Iraqi theatre-maker Enkidu Khaled. Khaled invites the audience to join him in creating a new performance each night, drawing on personal experience. Part lecture, part performance, part workshop, Working Method moves seamlessly from the lightest conversation to emotional punch.
A day of playreadings from the Arab world. Be the first to see four new plays from Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
Tickets for the playreadings can be bought individually or as part of a full day package.
Following his performance of multi-award winning Bahraini poet Qassim Haddad’s masterpiece Chronicles of Majnun Layla, Amer Hlehel, will be in conversation about this incredible retelling of the classic love story with live music. The story of love, passion, eroticism and unfulfilled desire is radically reinterpreted with an original soundscore. Join us immediately after the show for this fascinating discussion.
Following their double bill, Palestinian-Danish artist Mette Loulou von Kohl and Lebanese writer, performer and academic Dima Mikkhayel Matta will be joined by drag artist The Nightbus (Shaz Blakefield) and writer, performer director and drag artist Amrou Al-Khadi for a panel on queerness in performance by an incredible group of Arab artists.
The conversation will be chaired by Shereen Zoumot.
What does it mean to make work in Europe as an Arab artist? And what does that mean in these ‘interesting’ times? This panel gathers together some of the most exciting Arab/British artists making work in Europe for a discussion of the opportunities, risks and experiences of writing in Europe.