Announcing the selected artists for the third edition of Zoukak’s Theatre Mentorship Program
We are happy to announce the four supported artists and projects within the 3rd edition of Zoukak’s “Theatre Mentorship Program and Production Support Grant”: Stephanie Kayal, Rahaf Jammal, Mada Harb and Zayraqoun collective.
Through this program, the artists will be supported through the development of their projects over the course of 4 months, accompanied by Zoukak mentors from the conception to the execution. Zoukak will also provide the selected artists with technical, administrative, financial and production support, through group sessions and individual follow up with Zoukak’s team. Additionally, each artist will receive a small grant to support the production.
The final performances or work-in-progress presentations will take place at Zoukak Studio in December 2020 and January 2021.
We launched the call for applications for this program in July 2020, and received a number of interesting proposals. Therefore, besides the 4 selected artists, we decided to offer 6 additional artists a possibilty to benefit partially from the program through the usage of Zoukak Studio for their rehearsals and the participation in group sessions about production management and theatre tools.
Read more about the 4 selected artists and projects below:
Stephanie Kayal
Stephanie is a performer and dance instructor based in Beirut. She holds a Master’s degree in theatre studies. She has collaborated with different artists and theatre dance companies, performing in Beirut, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Chile, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, and Jordan. In February 2020, she received a grant from Culture Resource to produce her debut dance project “Evidence of Things Not Seen” which was selected for the 2020 Sundance Theatre Lab, and was presented as a work in progress at Bipod Festival in Beirut and at Wonder Women Festival at “Spam!” in Italy.
The project: Evidence of Things Not Seen
A dance phantom revisits the relics of a family, hailing from a past when dancing was proof of their bodies feeling safe.
“Evidence of Things Not Seen” is a performance about home, and the sensation of its presence, and its loss. It is also the story of a family living the “phantom limb syndrome”, experiencing sensations, whether painful or otherwise, in a limb that exists no more.
Evidence of Things Not Seen is supported by “Culture Resource”, and was developed, in part, at the 2020 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab.
Rahaf Jammal
Rahaf graduated with a BA in TV/Film and minor in Performing Arts at the Lebanese American University. She leans towards scriptwriting and directing in both film and theatre. She has also worked as a production designer for films and as a light designer for theatre. In 2016, she collaborated and performed in a physical theatre performance during the Mishkal Festival. This experience was an eye opener, it made her fall in love with physical movement, a challenging yet also liberating art.
The project: MAN FALL (temporary title)
Rahaf’s project brings together physical theatre and dialogue. The performance tells the story of the relationship between a man and a bird which leads to the out bringing of Man’s obsessive and selfish nature.
Mada Harb
Mada holds a B.A. in communication arts with an emphasis on theatre from the Lebanese American University. The first play she ever directed was Play by Samuel Beckett, which was selected for the L.A.U. International Theatre Festival in 2016. She has since worked on various plays and directed The Pitchfork Disney, a theatre performance exploring dysfunctional relationships & fears in an upfront and personal way.
The project: Table manners
An innovative theatrical attempt at reimagining linguistic styles, the piece examines a day in the life of a young woman living in current revolutionary Lebanon. This one act play highlights an anti- heroine’s attempt to avoid the outside world, a task that becomes increasingly difficult as the day drags.
Zayraqoun collective
Zayraqoun collective is a group of individuals coming from various places and backgrounds. As artists, thinkers, and doers, whose artistic practices bring together music, circus, performance, dance, installation, painting, and videos, they are constantly active in recreating the spaces, materials and relations around them. Over the past months, they have been setting up their space as an alternative education centre where they have been running multidisciplinary workshops, they also tour around regions with public parades, cross collaborations and performances.
The project: Rehla ila…
Rehla ila…is a multidisciplinary performance and parade that challenges notions of public space and collective creation. Through visual arts, circus, dance and music, it aims to show the sensorial journey of a group of travelers in their efforts to bridge the oppositions between the modern world and one that they aspire towards.
