How does memory work when memories in the head are like fixed images, without scenes from the past?
Beirut-based director Rabih Mroué moves nimbly between theatre, performance and visual arts, combining private documents and reality in his own personal way. The focus of his work is the economic and social situation in Lebanon,analysed each time in its contradictions and societal issues. These elements are also central in Riding on a cloud, a performance halfway between a play and a conference, featuring Mroué’s brother Yasser, who was wounded at the age of 23 by a gunshot during the Lebanese civil war and has lost the use of speech.
Starting from his condition, the director starts a meditation between memory, fiction and political reality, creating a portrait of the current situation in Lebanon and describing the fragility of any biographical narrative suspended between memories, documents and fiction.
credits: performance byRabih Mroué written and directed by Rabih Mroué with Yasser Mroué in collaboration with Sarmad Louis assistant director Petra Serhal assistant Janine Baroud English translation Ziad Nawfal co-produced by Fonds Podiumkunsten, Prins Claus Fonds, Hivos & Stichting DOEN – (The Netherlands) special thanks to Lina Saneh, Frie Leysen, Mroué family (Souad, Ahmad, Ammar, Ziad, Maha, Mazen, Nabil e Fatima Bazzi), Ahlam Awada, Samar Maakaroun, Janine Broud, Karma e Nadi Louis thanks to Hito Steyerl, Manal Khader, Eric Baudelaire, Paul Khodr, Lamia Joreige, Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Fariba Derakhshani, Mohamad Hojeiry, Matthias Lilienthal, Ali Zuraik, Louis Family, Petra Serhal, Hagop Derghougassian, Ziad Mroué, Christine Tohmé e Ashkal Alwan
How does memory work when memories in the head are like fixed images, without scenes from the past?
Beirut-based director Rabih Mroué moves nimbly between theatre, performance and visual arts, combining private documents and reality in his own personal way. The focus of his work is the economic and social situation in Lebanon,analysed each time in its contradictions and societal issues. These elements are also central in Riding on a cloud, a performance halfway between a play and a conference, featuring Mroué’s brother Yasser, who was wounded at the age of 23 by a gunshot during the Lebanese civil war and has lost the use of speech.
Starting from his condition, the director starts a meditation between memory, fiction and political reality, creating a portrait of the current situation in Lebanon and describing the fragility of any biographical narrative suspended between memories, documents and fiction.
credits: performance byRabih Mroué written and directed by Rabih Mroué with Yasser Mroué in collaboration with Sarmad Louis assistant director Petra Serhal assistant Janine Baroud English translation Ziad Nawfal co-produced by Fonds Podiumkunsten, Prins Claus Fonds, Hivos & Stichting DOEN – (The Netherlands) special thanks to Lina Saneh, Frie Leysen, Mroué family (Souad, Ahmad, Ammar, Ziad, Maha, Mazen, Nabil e Fatima Bazzi), Ahlam Awada, Samar Maakaroun, Janine Broud, Karma e Nadi Louis thanks to Hito Steyerl, Manal Khader, Eric Baudelaire, Paul Khodr, Lamia Joreige, Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Fariba Derakhshani, Mohamad Hojeiry, Matthias Lilienthal, Ali Zuraik, Louis Family, Petra Serhal, Hagop Derghougassian, Ziad Mroué, Christine Tohmé e Ashkal Alwan