Theater
What's Different
Our Plays Are Made In Chouf
Sarmada’s main initiative was fair access to arts to all, and the decentralization of theater, where we produce theatrical pieces made 100% from Chouf and host local, regional and international theatrical works! Under the slogan #theater_outisde_beirut #theater_outside_the_metropolis
"Theatre 3 Months Workshop"
"Circle of Silence"
“The Body I Live In” refers to the round of suffering, enduring and understanding it, wandering, searching, fighting, and drowning in unbalanced emotions, and anxiousness, death and rebirth to a freer, lighter existence. “The Body I Live In” insists on our bodies being a continuous flow, and escaping it is not possible, rather enduring the pain, sharing it and expressing it, a process where we have the tendency to keep creating worlds and then moving into them; rather than changing places, this creating and moving in doesn’t just happen once, at birth. We’re doing it all the time! And when all the walls fall down, and the cocoon completely disappears and we are totally open to what may happen, with no withdrawing, no centralizing into ourselves and no fear is when we are born again underneath our own skin and inside the same body we continue to live in, this time, in peace.
This show is an ongoing research process.
"The Body I Live In"
“The Body I Live In” refers to the round of suffering, enduring and understanding it, wandering, searching, fighting, and drowning in unbalanced emotions, and anxiousness, death and rebirth to a freer, lighter existence. “The Body I Live In” insists on our bodies being a continuous flow, and escaping it is not possible, rather enduring the pain, sharing it and expressing it, a process where we have the tendency to keep creating worlds and then moving into them; rather than changing places, this creating and moving in doesn’t just happen once, at birth. We’re doing it all the time! And when all the walls fall down, and the cocoon completely disappears and we are totally open to what may happen, with no withdrawing, no centralizing into ourselves and no fear is when we are born again underneath our own skin and inside the same body we continue to live in, this time, in peace.
This show is an ongoing research process.
"Edrab Al Haramieh"
Sarmada’s main initiative in 2017 was to have theater outside the capital and big cities, allowing fair access to rural areas and their people to all forms of arts, mostly performance arts and theater. To start off our project, firstly we got in touch with all theater and communication arts graduates in the chouf area, to discover a number of 270 persons wanting to dwell in the field! Then, we had to assess the chouf area when it comes the peoples appetite for arts and their will to be part, AND we were shocked and inspired alike to see the passion and vast attendance validating our initiative and the necessity of it. The assessment was part of running the project, we had castings in three different sites around Chouf to ensure reaching as much persons as possible, the casted 120 boys and girls were professionally trained, 30 of them have performed our first organic play “The Thieves’ Lockout” , at the Baakline national library theater, to an audience of 2700people, over 10 consecutive shows, All aspects of the performance were produced in the Chouf; we consolidated our resources, encouraging youth and adults of all religions and communities interested to participate in any way, whether as performers, musicians, art directors costume designers, or technicians. Thereafter 32 press institutions many held interviews and published articles to shed the light on this work. The show was featured on the local news on our local TV stations! This served as a great first step towards achieving our goals.
"Rahaen"
After “Edrab El Haramiya” came Sarmada’s second theatrical piece, we decided we shall not cast the same people, rather have new talents, to give this opportunity to as much persons as possible to participate. Three shows were performed at the Batloun Club outdoor stadium, 1500 persons attended the play over the days, with huge media coverage!
“Rahaen” was a dose of awareness for the liberation of women. Driven by the belief that the liberation of any society begins with the liberation of women, we sought to provide a dose of awareness highlighting common every day statements women hear and intake, choked by unfair customs and traditions against them. We managed to target the younger generations so that they would never again find it normal to surrender to this unfair practice, and become involved in changing this sad situation. The contribution of women themselves to this unfair reality was also present; we shed light on the role they themselves play in transmitting this reality without acknowledging it.
The elaboration and construction of the script was an unconventional methodology, “from the society to it”, I have conducted meetings with hundred persons of women and men and gathered real words, real statements, to be said as is in the play, the selected was 60 of the interviewed people. The talents participating in the play were organically casted from persons of the chouf area, aged 16 to 35; they were trained by experts and underwent a full theatrical professional experience. I have touched their acknowledgment of the situation and the urge to change throughout the process of preparing the show, and that was beyond rewarding; it has given me the courage to continue and it has shown me the real potential towards real change.
This was the second play in accomplishing our main and most important initiative of creating a theatrical movement, theater outside the city or capital where eventually all art forms is condensed, the elimination of monopolization of theater and giving all rural areas of the country and vulnerable people in the mountains access to theater starting with my town in the hope of future generalization all around our country. This continues in the approach of the commitment to having an annual play 100% made by chouf , the next is the show discussed in the work in progress section were we’d hope the fund would be in our favor to produce, show, distribute and widely perform it.
"Paroles En L'air"
A SPECIAL COLLABORATION WITH SCENARYO AND THE FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER DEIR AL QAMAR
Sarmada insists on giving access to Batloun and Chouf villages to a diversity of theater genres, which provoked a special collaboration with the French Institute and Scenaryo, to bring a new theater genre experience: Street Theater, Roaming Theater , four shows were presented in Deir Al Qamar by the title: “kalam Fadi, Paroles en l’air”.