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HOW CAN WE SHIFT PERSPECTIVES AS A PLATFORM, AS ARTISTS, AS AUDIENCE?
HOW CAN WE SHIFT PERSPECTIVES AS A PLATFORM, AS ARTISTS, AS AUDIENCE?
HOW CAN WE SHIFT PERSPECTIVES AS A PLATFORM, AS ARTISTS, AS AUDIENCE?
HOW CAN WE SHIFT PERSPECTIVES AS A PLATFORM, AS ARTISTS, AS AUDIENCE?
HOW CAN WE SHIFT PERSPECTIVES AS A PLATFORM, AS ARTISTS, AS AUDIENCE?
xadra
xadra
2019

X-Adra

Ramzi Choukair

A polyphonic narrative contemplating detention, dehumanization, love, hope and freedom

Ayat, Hend, Ola (now Ali), Mariam, Rowaida and Kenda are Syrian. Either as opposition activists in the 80s or young activists in the revolution of 2011, all of them have been incarcerated by the regime, most of them in Adra women’s prison. Forced to leave Syria, they currently live in Germany and France. Director Ramzi Choukair and dramatist Wael Kadour composed the dramatic framework of a play out of the testimonies of those two generations of detainees, who perform the piece.
This polyphonic narrative that links their six trajectories, not only shows the hell of detention and the mechanisms of dehumanization used by the regime. They bear witness to their experience in their own words and through the bonds of sisterhood, family and love that gave them the strength to survive and to continue to resist. Hope and an unshakable faith in freedom appear out of the struggle to bring back life where everything had been destroyed. Mixing opera and traditional Arabic song, the great Syrian singer Lubana Al Qunart is X-Adra’s seventh voice.

concept & direction Ramzi Choukair production & artistic collaboration Estelle Renavant dramaturgy Wael Kadour lighting design Franck Besson visual creation Maude Grübel production assistant Leïla Carpier translation & surtitling Farah Alimi, Ammar Haj Ahmad & Emily Skaret, Nadeen Lotayef performance Ayat Ahmad, Hend Alkahwaji, Ali Hamidi, Judy Al Rashi, Rowaida Kanaan, Kenda Zaour, Hend Mujali voice Lubana Al Quntar production Perseïden touring Kawaliss co-productions La Filature – Scène Nationale de Mulhouse, Bonlieu – Scène Nationale Annecy, Espace Malraux – Scène Nationale de Chambéry et de Savoie residencies Le MuCEM, théâtre Joliette Minoterie, le Mas de Vezenobres, La Filature supports The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), l’Archipel des Utopies, la Fondation Abbé Pierre, Ford foundation, l’ONDA, la Ville du Vigan
Dutch Premiere duration 60 min language Arabic surtitles English

photo © Ahmed Naji

 

Artist

Ramzi Choukair

Ramzi Choukair is a French Syrian actor and theatre director, who currently lives in Marseille, France. He studied Performing Arts in Damascus and Avignon, and […]

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