Call for Applications: Zoukak Behind the Curtains

Call for Applications: Zoukak Behind the Curtains
February - April 2022

Collaborative Communication with Mohamad Hamdan 
Theatre as a Mediation Tool - TMT with Lamia Abi Azar 
Acting with Junaid Sarieddeen
Directing for the Stage with Omar Abi Azar 
Devised Theatre with Maya Zbib

Deadline for Applications: 30th of December before midnight, Beirut time.

Download full call: English / Arabic

Fill in the application form in your preferred language (English or Arabic) and submit it along with the supporting document.

Zoukak Behind the Curtains is a series of training courses covering various aspects of theatre-making: from acting to devising, writing, directing, production management, and theatre as a psychosocial mediation tool. The program is designed in a way to make it possible for theatre practitioners and individuals wishing to develop their skills in theatre-making, to build a personalized learning training path throughout the diverse courses proposed over the year.

Zoukak Behind the Curtains will be launched during February and March 2022, with 5 training courses available over the course of  2 months: 

- Collaborative Communication
- Theatre as a Mediation tool
- Acting 
- Directing for the stage
- Devised Theatre

Participants can apply for one or more of the above-mentioned training. Once a participant is selected for any training, they will be required to attend the “Collaborative Communication” training, which is a prerequisite for the entire program.

These training courses are interconnected with Zoukak’s other programs, so participants will eventually have the chance to qualify for other opportunities moving forward. Stay tuned!

Fees: 

Free of charge; contributions are welcome 

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Training courses available in February and April 2022:

1. Collaborative Communication
With Mohamad Hamdan

The same training will run twice.

Run 1: 14th of February - 7th of March 2022 (4 sessions) - Mondays from 4:30pm to 8:30pm 

Run 2: 14th of March - 4th of April (4 sessions) - Mondays from 4:30pm to 8:30pm 

Our beliefs shape our behaviors. Believing in the importance of fair collaboration and reflecting this in our act is important for any social organization.

Theatre is one of the most ancient forms of collective expression and action. In that sense, collaborative communication is key for the creation process as much as any other element of the devising process such as writing, acting, directing, and scenography etc. 

This training is an invitation to practice fairness from the lens of our communication capacity. Using nonviolent communication, social organizing, and theatre, it poses integration as a flow of energy that holds together the space of action with stories and dreams.

Learning objectives

- Practice empathy to build rapport with others;

- Collaborate positively with others;

- Act in a responsive and reliable manner.

Prerequisites

Participants should commit to attending all the training sessions without any exception.

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2. Theatre Mediation Techniques – TMT
With Lamia Abi azar

This training course consists of three phases: 

Phase 1: Personal experimentation of Drama Therapy
15th of February - 22th of March 2022 - 6 sessions
Tuesdays from 4:30pm to 8:30pm

Phase 2: TMT Methodology
May - July 2022 - 8 sessions
(exact dates to be announced later)

Phase 3: TMT Field case studies and practice of exercises
September - October 2022 - 8 sessions
(exact dates to be announced later)

This training is tailored for practitioners using theatre/art as a mediation technique within their work with communities, as well as theatre students who would like to acquire the tools and techniques of psychosocial mediation. 

The first module of this training invites participants to an embodied exploration, to re-sensitize themselves and connect with personal thoughts and desires, through organic movement, breathing, relaxation and theatre exercises with the aim of releasing excessive tension and stress.

This method is the brainchild of two different schools: experimental theatre and clinical psychology. It merely uses theatre techniques as tools that enable personal investigation, and as means of intervention within a therapeutic approach with focus on:

- The framework of the approach: its spatio-temporal specificity and symbolic function, as well as its modalities, internal regulations, and logic of expression; 

- The skills of the mediator: their mastery of theatre language and tools and ability to transmit them; their neutrality and lack of judgment; the quality of their presence and personal availability; their capacity to listen; their ability to intervene using theatrical tools only; their ability to set the adequate empathetic distance between participants and themselves.

Prerequisites and eligibility

- Participants should commit to the full TMT training cycle, i.e. to commit to its three phases (1) as well as to commit to two other trainings, part of the Zoukak Behind The Curtains Program. 

- Participants who are using theatre and/or art with communities or managing psycho-social programs involving theatre mediation interventions are eligible to apply.

- Theatre students who are looking to acquire theatre mediation skills in order to develop work with communities are eligible to apply.

- Participants should attend all training sessions without any exception.

- Those new phases will be announced in the Spring and will be planned between May – July and September – October 2022.

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3. Acting
With Junaid Sarieddeen

16th of February - 30th of March 2022 (7 sessions) - Wednesdays from 4:30pm to 8:30 pm
With a closing session on the last day from 4:30pm to 10:30pm

In this training, participants experiment with an actor-centered training methodology, based on both the actor, and the person behind the actor.

When we watch a person “acting”, we notice two elements: the actor himself, and the acting or performance in terms of characters, roles, and actions... In this space, bringing together the actor and their act, ideas merge with actions, and stories become intertwined with the acting itself. Here the following question arises: Why do we act this way?

Acting often goes along with the actor’s prior knowledge of what “acting” means, which is usually influenced by either previous experiences, or different acting references and methodologies that the actor was acquainted with through reading and watching. This workshop tackles what remains with the actors after being exposed to diverse acting methods and styles. It seeks to empower the person behind each actor, in  the purpose of achieving dynamic and energetic acting, condensed in the present moment.

This training works on building the “acting” based on raw primary actions, finding performative actions, and identifying types of active presence. It creates a space for  experimentation and exploration of acting bases, methods, and tools, in an experiential framework.

Learning Objectives

- Experiment and explore acting styles, as well as ways for building roles, characters, situations, and theatrical actions;

- Build actors' skills based on mere presence, where actions are situated in the current moment and present time;

- Develop actors’ ability to listen on various levels: self-listening , listening to the meaning, listening to the moment, listening to the context;

- Stimulate sensitivity and create awareness about acting dynamics, and the actors’ inherent subjective judgments on their actions and performances;

- Master performing tools and acting techniques that link actors to the reality of their actions, even when those actions are exaggerated or grotesque. 

Prerequisites

Participants must have the desire to go through this experience and the will to develop their performing and acting skills, in addition to their full commitment to all training sessions without any exception.

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4. Directing for The Stage
With Omar Abi Azar

This training course consists of two phases:

Phase 1: 17th of February - 10th of March 2022 (4 sessions) - Thursdays from 4:30pm to 8:30pm
In addition to 1 online session (date to be confirmed at a later stage)

Phase 2: 26th of May - 23th of June 2022 (4 sessions) - Thursdays from 4:30pm to 8:30pm

Through a variation of texts from Greek antiquity to contemporary and postmodern works, this training aims to be a platform for aspiring and emerging theatre directors to experiment, develop and reflect on their practice and their role in a creation process, while acquiring skills related to the role of the actor, and the roles of scenography and light design in directing.

During this training, participants get the chance to develop their own projects, in addition to other practicing exercises based on the texts they will choose to work on.

The training tackles theatre directing on both theoretical and practical levels.

Learning objectives

- Gain skills to stage a production based on an existing text or an adaptation, or on an idea 

- Acquire the means to direct actors, light designers, and scenographers;

Prerequisites

A minimum knowledge in directing plays is required from participants, and a willingness to challenge their own practices with an open mind. Participants should commit to attend all the sessions without any exception.

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5. Devised Theatre
With Maya Zbib

18th of February - 1st of April 2022 - 8 sessions
Fridays from 4:30pm to 8:30pm and an extra session on Tuesday 29 March from 4:30pm to 8:30pm

Devised theatre is the process of creating theatre from scratch, whether collectively or individually. In this training, we focus on collaborative creation, leading participants to take part in developing original performance material together, through various content generating processes, including writing, improvisation, physical movement, scene building, site specific work, research, and active reflection... The multifaceted nature of devising is explored, from the more intuitive and spontaneous approaches to theatre making to the more constructed methods, leading to composition, which is essentially the process of assembling, editing, and re-shaping individuals' various productions and experiences, to form a final performance piece. The training explores various ways of conceiving ideas and forming personal views within the broadest social and political contexts inherent to the group, springing from the personal connections of each individual to the subject matter.

Learning objectives:

- Explore and experiment with the nature of performance on a personal and collective level;

- Use imagination as a channel for thoughts, desires, and physical impulses;

- Learn from the freedom of infinite possibilities of creation while working as a group;

- Learn from dynamic interactions and group cohesion;

- Develop active listening and group reflecting skills, as well as planning tools;

- Share experiences and ideas of making theatre with peers;

- Produce in an environment that fosters intuition and creativity;

- Experience diverse processes of generating performance work.

Prerequisites

Participants should be either theatre students or graduates or have a one-year experience as a theatre maker or performer, whether professionally or as an amateur.They should commit to attend all training sessions without any exception.