Zoukak Theatre presents the six performances developed within the 8th edition of “Kawalis Zoukak – The Mentorship Program”.
Handed Down by Naila Al Hares
The hands of women pass down the woven thread of lineage, even if it is frayed. As it is, even without tuning, it fills the corners of the soul with a familiar song.
Though it never breaks, when the hands that weave it are forced into silence, it hangs in dissonance. For the weight it carries is too much to bear, too much to be inherited, even by the strongest.
The grandmother falls silent. The mother remains a daughter, and the granddaughter weaves from the strings of her voice to restore the thread’s melody.
10 & 11 January, 2026
8 pm
At Zoukak Theatre
Director, Writer and Performer: Naila Al Hares
Mentor: Omar Abi Azar
Assistant Director: Rahaf Jammal
Technical Director and Lighting Designer: Mohammad Assaad
Sound Designer: Carol Ohair
Poster Designer: Mohamad Abdouni
Set and Visual Designer: Maamoun Tobbo
Voice Recording: Assil Ayyash
Tickets: https://ihjoz.com/events/8860
Souad’s Party by Ghina Abboud
A theatrical-cinematic performance set during a spontaneous night in a Damascus house, where young Syrians and a Lebanese woman meet under the pressure of Assad’s regime. What begins as a casual gathering unfolds into moments of honesty, sometimes funny, sometimes painful conversations, as everyone confronts themselves, each other, and the reality they live in.
Shifting between realistic and dreamlike scenes, the piece follows a group of friends—eight on screen and two on stage. Carrying the memories and struggles of their homelands, they cross borders, come together, play, separate, and reconnect.
17 & 18 January, 2026
8 pm
At Zoukak Theatre
Written and Directed by: Ghina Abboud
Mentor: Junaid Sarrieddine
Actresses on Stage
Katreen Albchara and Ghina Abboud
Actors and Co-Writers (Film)
Gamel Abu Rslan
Heba Nasser
Katreen Albchara
Homam Tadmori
Hussein Elsayegh
Rosette Turkmani
Petra Nofal
Yheya Abo Drhamen
Special appearance of Bassel and Nisrine Habib
Producer: Amar Sokhn
Assistant Director: Graziella Ghandour
Light Designer and Technical Director: Antonella Rizk
Sound Designer and Operator: Carol Ohair
Assistant Dramaturge: Nirvana Daoud
Crew on Film
Director of Photography: Kenan Hlal
Sound on Set: Nirvana Daoud and Rawad Abu Rslan
Making Of: Ashraf Matar
Edited by: Sherine Raffoul and Ghina Abboud
Sound Mixing and Mastering: Victor Bress
Coloring: Chrystel Elias
Poster Design: Amy Chiniara
Special Thanks to
Zoukak Theatre Team
Beit Alberto SJ
Sedra Hudaifa
Nadine Arbash
Adam Maatouk
Jana Bou Matar
Sandra Abdelbaki
Serjoun Sarrieddine
Hussein Khalaf Al-Hammoud
Jean Abd El Nour
Habiba Ferkh
Pya Eid
Michel and Jeannette Abboud
With further support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC)
Tickets: https://ihjoz.com/events/8861
Little Tall Tales by Yara Sadek
In this reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood, Loula navigates a forest built from fears, inherited stories, and the shifting narratives passed down through generations.
Blending satire, absurdism, and modern mythmaking, the play moves through a sequence of strange, seductive, and unsettling encounters. The play echoes the experience of a generation, raised on half-truths, and the looming promise of a catastrophe that was always coming, until it finally did. It examines how fear is taught, reshaping children’s imaginations and identities, whether in the family home, public institutions, or under the authority of ever-changing “Grown-Up” power figures.
On this epic journey, Loula must confront the voices that claim to guide her and decide whether to follow the story written for her, or write her own way out.
22 & 23 January, 2026
8 pm
At Zoukak Theatre
Written and Directed by: Yara Sadek
Mentor: Maya Zbib
Assistant Director: Tamara Abureslan
Actors: Nour Malak, Jana Mghames, Rayan Hibta, Ibrahim khalil, Marilyn Germani, Tamara Abureslan, Ahmad Masri
Tickets: https://ihjoz.com/events/8862
In The Ice by Hussein Al Hasan and Dima Al Attar
(Closed Open Studio)
A theatre performance that tells the story of a young man and woman, carrying within them a buildup of repressed anger and helplessness. Their consciousness has been shaped within ongoing cycles of wars, conflict, displacement, and exile. Their artistic tools take them on a journey to explore possibilities of expression as an act of survival. Fire surrounds them on all sides, yet they must keep their hearts in the ice.
25 January, 2026
8 pm
At Zoukak Theatre
Directed by: Hussein Al Hasan
Written and Performed by: Hussein Al Hasan and Dima Al Attar
Mentor: Lamia Abi Azar
Puppet Making and Scenography: Dima Al Attar
Dramaturgy: Almonther Aldamani
Music: George Karam
Light Design: Antonella Rizk
Poster: Hussein Al Hasan
Special thanks to rehearsal spaces:
Beit Aam, Riwaq Beirut, Nehna hon, Ettijahat, Zoukak Theatre
With further support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC)
Outskirts by Angela El Haddad
Stranded on the side of the city, El Karentina has been long forgotten after decades of marginalisation and neglect. Refusing silence in the face of this social injustice, the story of the neighborhood’s revival is retold. Through a journey of multiple voices, the work explores themes of war, displacement, and isolation, recalling painful, bittersweet memories, and a hope for a better tomorrow.
29 January, 2026
7:30 pm and 9 pm
At Zoukak Theatre
Directed, written, and performed by: Angela El Haddad
Mentor: Omar Abi Azar
Light Design and Operation: Jamal Zerky
Sound Operation: Hussein Aanani
Poster Design: Abbas Lakkis
Tickets: https://ihjoz.com/events/8864
Those Who Remain by Joe Ramia
A woman is forced to leave her home.
On her last day, she returns to cassette tapes filled with old recordings.
The line between past and present blurs, and waiting becomes an act of resistance.
Those Who Remain is a multimedia theatre performance exploring memory and loss through sound, silence, and image.
1 February, 2026
8 PM
At Zoukak Theatre
Written by: Joe Ramia & Pia Khalil
Directed by: Joe Ramia
Mentor: Maya Zbib
Performed by: Pia Khalil
Technical Director & Light Designer: Ahmed Hafez
Assistant Technical Director: Michelle Feghali
Tickets: https://ihjoz.com/events/8863
*The Mentorship Program is supported by Drosos, The Sigrid Rausing Trust, Fondation De France, Porticus and Goethe Institute