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The “Gemmayzeh Theater” in Beirut suffered the most damage
According to Greek accounts, Nero, the ruler of Rome, stood and watched the burning scene of the city, wearing a theatrical costume and singing an ancient excerpt from an epic from Greek literature. Today, the pillars of the Lebanese state are seeing the scene of the devastation that befell Beirut after the port explosion, like that of Nero. The silence of the state and its inability to damage the blast caused by the blast led various theater, artistic and cultural workers to organize what was called a “theatrical relief meeting in Lebanon” with the aim of providing assistance to the workers. affected in the theatrical field as a result of the explosion, and rebuild what was destroyed in theaters and spaces. And cultural spaces. The meeting has more than a hundred members, who are integrated into an organized body, divided into groups and committees with different logistical and technical tasks. The meeting, which includes several resident and expatriate Lebanese artists, constitutes a precedent in Lebanese theater in bringing together workers in this field who have not been united by a culture ministry or union before, so that the objectives of the meeting go beyond donations, and the themes of the theater are rethought and re-presented and the obstacles that prevent That is, in the hope that the theater will be effective and a true tool of change, in line with the aspirations of the Lebanese street .
So far the approval of the initiative is good, by filling in forms by those affected, or by collecting donations through the “Book” website and other electronic means, which motivated the commissioners to extend the term of donations until the end of September. According to theater director Shady al-Habr, one of the curators of the “Lebanese Theater Aid Assembly”, the number of affected theater artists has reached about 58 and work is underway to help them in various ways. Regarding theaters and spaces, the survey was completed and it was found that the damages vary between theaters, but the “Gemmayzeh Theater” in Beirut was the one that suffered the most damage, in addition to other theaters such as the “Medina Theater”.
The “Gemmayzeh Theater” is considered one of the oldest theaters in Beirut, it has a history of launching the theater in the Arab world by virtue of its proximity to the Church of Santa and the shows that were performed there. According to damage surveys, the theater room was found to be completely destroyed. According to Joe Kodeih, one of the theater’s curators, all the assets were destroyed, but this does not constitute an obstacle to their restoration, especially since many are in contact with the curators to provide assistance, especially from European countries. Reconstruction comes at a time when the country is witnessing insane price increases, without government support so far. However, this remains easy due to the magnitude of the moral loss and the sense of loss and death that people have experienced.
Theater actors often insist on sweeping the stage with their hands as part of the physical exercises that precede the performance … But after the explosion, the curators of the “Gemmayzeh Theater” were surprised by the scene of young people sweeping the destruction, which gave them a strong impetus to keep going despite great frustration, and the hope that this city does not age and does not age.
The “Lebanese Theater Relief Assembly” attaches importance to contributing to the restoration of the “Gemmayzeh Theater”. So far, approximately half of the estimated financial value has been raised to address the damage to Lebanon’s cinemas and affected workers, according to a statement from the meeting on its social media pages. This initiative comes at a time when the guilty finger is targeting non-governmental organizations and groups working on the ground after the port explosion. Commenting on this, Shadi al-Habr says that transparency is “the main concern of the meeting.” The amount collected will be distributed transparently and work is underway to prepare a plan for this.
On the page “The Theater Relief Assembly in Lebanon” on Instagram and Facebook, a series of videos of Lebanese actors and theater directors, residents and expatriates, such as: Sahar Assaf, Zeina Dakash, Karim Dakroub, Anjou Rayhan and others … they are asking for help raising funds and directing talking videos. On the magnitude of the suffering and disaster that befell them and their colleagues. Therefore, it relies on social media for marketing. For example, any member of the assembly is contacted with cultural institutions in London or New York and other cities, to post videos on the theaters’ websites to support the gathering initiative from abroad.
In Lebanon, there is no advertisement on the “Book” website for upcoming theater shows except “No Tonight Show”. This show will not take time or place, or plot or characters … Only the scenography of the destroyed city was built on the scene of the crime of authority: lighting off, berms on the rubble, scattered houses … the tragedy that lived the city is enough to suspend the theatrical performances until further notice in the light of The mess in which we live. “No Tonight Show” arises as an initiative of the “theater aid group in Lebanon”, through which any donor can reserve a fake seat through “book” and the proceeds go to the meeting.
The characteristics of the theater are reconfigured after the crises, and the suffering of the artists focuses on a new content and form.
Dima Mikhael Matta, writer, actress and member of the “Theater Relief Association in Lebanon” affirms that it is not possible until now to think of any theatrical performance in light of the crazy reality in which we live, hence the idea of ”no show tonight. ” And he adds: “The important thing in this period is to focus on the affected people, and restore the theaters, because the cultural sector has been greatly affected after the successive tremors of the economic crisis, the Crown epidemic and finally the explosion of the port. … Life will take time to return, and of course it will not return to normal … Unfortunately, now there is no role for the theater, all we can do is help each other to restore the role of the theater in the future » .
Al-Habr responds to Matthew’s aspirations in this context: “Now it is the turn to restore the theaters and improve the conditions of their workers. Through that, we gradually restore the cultural face, so that the theater becomes the scene of salvation in this city whose cultural and urban features are collapsing day by day.
What art will there be after the explosion? Experience indicates that the theater never dies. Europe after the Second World War, where the theater resurfaced and took on a different form and content. Lebanon experienced a theatrical revival, also after the civil war, despite the decline in the number of theaters in the city.
Studies in the sociology of art indicate that the characteristics of the theater are reconfigured again after crises, thus focusing the suffering experienced by artists in a new content and form. This “trauma” experienced by individuals cannot pass in passing and can form the core of future theatrical productions.
The stage of the protest is taking to the streets
In general, the theater acquires the character of protest and incitement in a country that is going through great crises, with the aim of putting a finger on the sore of the people, moving their revolutionary pulse and reminding them of their misery and suffering. Today, at a time when various theaters still fail to understand the public, the play “Jude”, directed by Alan Saadeh and performed by Dana Mikhael, appears on Gemmayzeh Street, destroyed by the Beirut explosion, in the context of ” street theater”.
The play is adapted from the African playwright Kofi Kwahwali’s “Jazz” text, and the director rewrites, translates and directs. The play tells the story of a woman who lives in a building that lacks the essentials for life and is full of stools, who tries to clean it over and over again without success, nor the help of anyone. While living in the heart of this suffering, a woman is harassed, until she is raped by a neighbor. Saadeh rewrote the play according to the events the country is going through. In “Jude,” not only is rape the focus of the dramatic plot, but her narratives expand to include the customs and traditions established in our societies in a theatrical form far from realism. So the text comes in terms of time, place and subtraction, identical to what Lebanese live, according to Saadeh, who tells “Al-Akhbar”: “We are raped every day by an authority incapable of doing anything.”
The director of the play starts from individualism towards society as a whole, to exercise its motivating function within the “street theater”, to be a disturbing nightmare that annoys those who watch it and motivates them towards change. In this context, Saadeh points out that the theater is a space to express their anger at everything this country is experiencing … through theater, the revolution decides to explode its internal components to come to light. Work on the play (50 minutes – preparation by Alexandra Kahwagi, sound design for music by George Abu Zeid and Marc Ernst) began before the Beirut explosion, and today the show is produced on the impact of the shock that everyone experienced amidst a scenery of devastation on the destroyed Gemmayze Street.
* The play “Jude”: Friday September 18 – 6:00 pm – Armenia Street (Mar Mikhael, next to “Bar Tartin”).
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