Alice
© Tanya TRABOULSI
Program Information
| Genre / Country | Theatre / LEBANON |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 May at 18:00, 7 May at 12:30, 8 May at 16:30 |
| Venue | At BOX Theatre, Shizuoka Performing Arts Park (Non-reserved seat) |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
| Language | In Arabic with Japanese subtitles |
| Adaptation, Direction and Performance | Sawsan BOU KHALED |
Introduction
A fantastic nightmarish world spills out from tiny places
How can theatre have meaning when people are living in unending political turmoil and civil war? In “Alice,” there is a bed on the stage on which a woman struggling with a wakeful night tries to calm herself down by remembering the comfortable feeling of her mother’s bed. Instead of calming herself, though, her imagination goes crazy and her worries appear as symbolic figures in her mind.
Written, directed and performed by Lebanese actress Sawsan BOU KHALED, this innovative work for one actor — which was first performed in Cairo and Beirut in 2013 — superbly depicts the constant anxiety facing ordinary Lebanese citizens as well as the endless emotional turmoil surrounding that country’s artists.
Synopsis
A woman goes to bed wearing an eye-mask after cleaning off a cucumber facemask. However, it seems she is struggling to go to sleep and is drowsily surprised when she thinks she touches her third leg — which of course doesn’t exist. She then tries to overcome her growing restlessness by remembering the warm and comfortable feeling of her mother’s bed and family photos from her childhood. However, her flood of imaginings then changes and monsters, unborn children, cats and suchlike appear instead — until something really grotesque emerges from under her bed.
Director’s Profile
Sawsan BOU KHALED
Director, author, and performer of her own creations, Sawsan BOU KHALED lives and works in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, where she was born in 1975.
After graduating from the Institute of Fine Arts at the city’s Lebanese University, she started her career as an actress in plays by her famous brother, Issam BOU KHALED — often working with her current creative partner, the set designer Hussein BAYDOUN.
In 2000, she moved to France and studied drama at the New Sorbonne University Paris. Then, in 2006, she debuted in her first solo performance in “Cryptobiosis,” a work she also directed about her memory of the 1975–90 war in Lebanon, and civilians who disappeared at that time.
To date, BOU KHALED’s works have mainly been performed in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, France, Germany and Belgium.
Talks
◎ Starting 25 minutes before each performance, there will be a pre-performance talk.
◎ 6 May, there is a post-performance talk by the artists.
Cast / Staff
Creation, direction and performance: Sawsan BOU KHALED
Set design and video animation: Hussein BAYDOUN
Lighting design: Sarmad LOUIS
Lighting execution: Ahmed HAFEZ
Music: the music that Mikhail MEEROVITCH(Russia) composed for the film “Tale of the Tales”,1979.
Adaptation: Maurice LOUCA
Supported by AFAC, Embassy of Lebanon
SPAC Staff
Stage manager: MORIYAMA Marie
Lighting: KOBAYAKAWA Hiroya, ITAYA Wataru
Sound: MAKI Daisuke, SHIMIZU Kei
Wardrobe: OOKA Mai, KAWAI Reiko
Japanese subtitles (Translation): UDO Satoshi
Japanese subtitles (Operation): YANAGIYA Ayumi
Interpreter: WATANABE Maho
Production: KUMAKURA Misato, KEIMI Aoi
Technical manager: MURAMATSU Atsushi
Lighting manager: HIGUCHI Masayuki
Sound manager: KATO Hisanao
Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan in the fiscal 2016
