Ghalia's Miles
Ghalia’s Miles
Zoukak Theatre Company
Dedicated to the memory of Elyse Dodgson (1945 - 2018) - Director of the international programme at the Royal Court
Fleeing her family in Lebanon in the hope of building a new life in Europe, Ghalia, a pregnant teenager, makes an extraordinary journey through the Arab World. On her way, she encounters several women who guide her, and she sacrifices almost everything she has to make the crossing. Borrowing elements from mythological characters and archetypal figures of women warriors and nurturers, in addition to stories inspired from real women who were active in the upheavals of the Arab World, the play attempts to draw the changing map of our region through the innocent and feisty eyes of Ghalia and the strong women she meets. Ghalia slowly becomes the representation of the youth’s ability to adapt to the changing and harsh environments of our world today.
Presentation dates and locations:
- 9-10 March 2016: staged reading as part of ‘Told From The Inside: New Plays from Lebanon and Syria’ at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
- 9 August 2017: Staged reading at at the Edinburgh International Festival’s ‘New and Now’ , translated by Katharine Halls and directed by Lucy Morrison.
- 10 November 2018: Reading at the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut, within Sidewalks Festival
- 14 March 2019: Reading at the Khachabi Theatre in Haifa, directed by Bachar Murkos.
- 23-28 March 2019: First performances at Zoukak Studio in Beirut
- 4-6 April 2019: Performances at Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg
- 11-12 April 2019: Performances at tak Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg in Berlin
- November 2019: performances at Théâtre des 13 Vents CDN Montpellier
Author: Maya Zbib
Director: Omar Abi Azar
Performers: Lamia Abi Azar, Rym Mroueh, Junaid Sarieddine, Raeda Taha and Maya Zbib
Music composer: Layale Chaker
Live musicians: Layale Chaker (violin) and Simona Abdallah (percussions)
Scenographer: Hussein Baydoun
Light designer: Charlie Astrom
Technical director: Nadim Deaibes
Assistant director and stage manager: Sari Shrayteh
Production managers: Mohamad Hamdan and Soumaya Berri
Project coordinator: Rana Aaraj
Communication officer: Marianne Kortbani
Graphic designer: Maya Chami
Supported by: Drosos
Co-produced by: Zoukak Theatre Company, Drosos Foundation and Théâtre des 13 vents Centre Dramatique National Montpellier
This production was developed in the frame of the project “Cursed to Live in Interesting Times“, in cooperation with suite42 and Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg.
Funded by the Doppelpass Fund of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes.
Ghalia’s Miles was written by Maya Zbib and first developed on a “New Writing for Theatre” Project with the Royal Court Theatre and the British Council between 2014-2016. It was given a staged reading as part of ‘Told From The Inside: New Plays from Lebanon and Syria’ at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs in June 2016 and at the Edinburgh International Festival’s ‘New and Now’ in August 2017 translated by Katharine Halls and directed by Lucy Morrison.
