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al madina theatre

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founded by Nidal AL Achkar

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YOUTH ON THE MARGIN CREATE THEIR WORLD

The 6th Jana International Film Festival for Children & Youth

The Arab Resource Center for Popular Arts (ARCPA/AL-JANA) Cordially Invites You to Attend the Opening of The 6th Jana International Film Festival for Children & YouthYOUTH ON THE MARGIN CREATE THEIR WORLDWednesday, November 23, 2011 - 7:30 PMA Special Screening of short digital stories, produced during a series of activities that focused on discovering the self & "the other", will be shown on Thursday, November 24, 2011 - 7:30 PM, at Madina Theater - Beirut.This festival aims at providing children and youth a platform to convey their issues as well as become acquainted with various cultures from around the world.
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MASKS OF VIOLENCE

directed by Frank Raddatz

Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture presents "MASKS OF VIOLENCE" texts by: Etel ADNAN and Heiner MULLER directed by: Frank RADDATZOn December 8th, 9th & 10th 2011at 8.30pm(after its premiere in Germany at FORUM FREIS THEATRE in Düsseldorf - october 2011) The performance is in the Arabic and German languages with English subtitles.This German Lebanese production is a bilingual collage putting passages of Heiner Müller's work into the diary-like texts by Etel Adnan, concerning the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.Etel Adnan and Heiner Müller are connected by a common aesthetic grammar allowing them to compress experiences of violence of the modernity into a poetic event. The project intends a theatrical exchange between cultures. It belongs to the most sensitive field: 'devastations by violence' which we find in the history of Germany and that of the Arab World in many dimensions. In front of this horizon, “Masks of Violence” demonstrates, that living together is possible.Production, Direction & Concept: Frank RaddatzCo-production: Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts & Culture, Nidal Al Achkar, Chairperson.FFT-Forum Freies Theater Düsseldorf, Kathrin Tiedemann, Director.Actors: Andrea Gowin, Nagham Abboud, Abdelrahim El Awji, Mohammad Assaf, Wihad AvoStage design: Eduard WinklhoferSculptures: Simone Fattal Sound design: Xavier Aguado Costumes: Isa Dorn Organisation: Peter Legemann Financed by:- Cultural Office of the state capital Düsseldorf- Ministry for family, children, youth, culture and sport of the country North Rhine-Westphalia- North-Rhine/Westphalia cultural secretary- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany

A new jewelry line by MOK for men

MOE KHADRA will be revealing the tale behind his new collection through a fashion performance on the 30th of November 2011 at Al Madina Theater, Beirut. MOE KHADRA, the Lebanese fashion designer who has built his reputation upon “cutting edge MOK women pieces,” has unveiled his 2011 new jewelry collection for men online at mokmeonline.com. The iconic line of 25 select pieces is handcrafted in silver & gold and includes ultra-wide range of silk rope and leather bands, as well as pendants, and rings.
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TRI ORIENT

Christmas at Al Madina

“Elevator to Slaughterhouse“Out of a seminar concerning German author Heiner Müller, which director Frank Raddatz gave at the University of Damascus, there arose a cooperation which let to the theater play “Masks of Violence”.The Syrian-Lebanese-German production had its premiere in October at FFT Düsseldorf / Germany. It is less a play about the Arab world,but more an interplay of two authors who have shaped the war:The lyrics are written by Heiner Müller (born 1929, Germany) and his Lebanese counterpart Etel Adnan (born in 1925, Lebanon) and are presented in two languages (with subtitles).Strong lyrics are working together.

Strong lyrics are working together.People listen banned. Fascinating is the language of Adnan, cool, but of internal heat. Gowin brings the horror of the bombing of Bagdad with wise distance across the ramp. And the Arab colleagues are noisy, but good.NaghamAbboud is the victim, is Ophelia, Elektra and in the next moment an angel of death, longing for the throat of Glowin. Later, Mohammad Al-Assaf and Abdel Rahim Awji rise into an imaginary elevator and land in Peru.There they will run a job, which they do not know whatit is and how it looks. A parable about obedience, responsibility, and the nature of violence.Tired at the end of the game.Glowin vomit in disgust over the war in a wastebasket, rises with a bloody face."The long road to go, leading the world into the slaughter house" are the last words.
Al MadinaTheatre Assoiation for Arts and Culture presentsChristmas at Al Madina with the trio orient, featuring Ronza, Amal Tonb and Fadia Tonb on Wendnesday 21st 2011 at 8.30pmThe profits from this special event will go to the Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture Ticket price: 100 US$
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Al Madina Theatre aims to represent a milestone for the Lebanese in the cultural and political development of the country.Founded by Nidal Al Achkar in 1994, Al Madina Theatre developed into the Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture in March 2005.Since the Lebanese government does not have a system of subvention, the Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture was founded on private and institutional donations from the Lebanese and Arab world as a non-profit Association.Al Madina Theatre aims to promote dialogue and to create a space of free expression for all issues facing the Lebanese and Arab societies.It is a multidisciplinary platform bringing together artists, writers and intellectuals to present their work.In addition to plays and performances, Al Madina Theatre organizes exhibitions, screens movies (ciné-club), and hosts cultural events such as conferences, seminars, lectures, book signatures, workshops, etc.History of the placeNidal Al Achkar established the current Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture (March 2005) after renovating a historic cinema in Beirut (Saroulla Cinema) built in the late sixties, abandoned during the entire period of the Lebanese civil war.Numerous donations were collected for the centre’s renovation work. the premises One large theatre (450 places)One small theatre (110 places)Joan Littlewood’s workshop spaceSaaallah Wannous’s workshop space Members, coordinators Mrs Nidal Al Ashkar - Founder, Animator and President Mrs May Jounblat - Vice President Sarah Salem - Representative of the associationOusama Al Aref - Member, Legal department of the associationMona Knio - Artistic director Nagy Souraty - Artistic directorJamal Toukan - General accountant Soha Boustany - Member Gerard Khatcharian - MemberKhaled Naim - Member Jessy Kossaify - MemberOmar Khoury - Member Maria Hibri - MemberHoda Baroudi - MemberRana Bohsali - MemberLouay Ramadan - Secretary of the TheatreMohamad Farhat - Chief technicianSalah Issa - Reservation and Box OfficeHassan Saleh - Formal affairsAli Farhat - Usher

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nidal al achkar

Nidal Al Achkar is a Lebanese artist, born in Dick El-Mehdi, North Metn, married to Mr. Fouad Naïm (journalist and painter) and mother of Omar and Khaled Naïm. She played a leading role in launching the theatre movement specifically, and culture generally, in Lebanon and the Arab world, with the aim of renewing its horizons, its dialect and its instruments.An actor and director, Nidal Al Achkar graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). A cultural provocateur to the core, she founded with a group of artists “The Beirut Theatre Workshop” in 1966; it was a period of splendor for the ground-break in theatre movement in Lebanon, lasting until the outbreak of the civil war in the mid-70s, and producing tens of plays which shook and provoked Lebanese society because they dealt boldly with contemporary social, political and regional issues.In the mid-80s, Nidal El Achkar established from Amman, Jordan, the “Arab Actors” theatre company; it was the first troupe to comprise artists from 13 Arab countries. The Actors” took its craft to many countries in the region, crowning its tours in London’s Royal Albert Hall.She trained and worked with Joan Littlewood in Tunis, London and Paris; her encounter with Joan Littlewood changed her life and career.She contributed through her theatrical body of work to transforming Lebanese theatre from its elitism to a more accessible and popular form. Meeting this major challenge bestowed on Nidal Al Achkar’s work the quality of contemporariness, of daring and of ever improving standards. She added grace, strength, and creativity through her distinctive performances in a number of important Lebanese and Arab T.V. productions. This led her to occupy a preeminent position among the established artistic and cultural personalities in Lebanon and the Arab world.Nidal Al Achkar livened up Arab poetry with several innovative recitals, and promoted verse as a popular and dramatic tool to communicate with a wide public. She took this innovative art form to most Arab and European countries, as well as to the Americas, initially as a solo performer, and later accompanied by famous actors, musicians and singers. She participated in many lectures, discussions, conferences, and seminars concerning cultural, social, political and gender issues as well as the arts.She has received numerous national and international honors, most notably by the French Government, as a Knight of Arts and Letters, in 1997.She founded a cultural establishment, Al Madina Theatre (Masrah Al Madina), in 1994, which developed into Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture in Marsh 2005.Nidal Al Achkar is currently General Manager, founder and animator of Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts and Culture, which she founded after renovating an historic cinema in Beirut and made it available to Lebanese civil society.

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news The Etel Adnan Award for Women Playwrights 2011The Playwriting CompetitionAfter the Honoring of Etel Adnan and announcing the winner of the Lebanese writer Valerie Cachard in 2010 The Al-Madina Theatre of Beirut and the Swedish National Touring Theatre (Riksteatern), announce an open call for women playwrights for the 2011 Etel Adnan Award for Women Playwrights. The competition provides an opportunity for winning women writers residing in Arabic-speaking countries to have their plays presented as a reading at the 2012 Women Playwrights International’s Conference (WPI) in Stockholm, Sweden.BackgroundEtel Adnan is a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist born in Beirut in 1925. She is the daughter of a Greek mother and a Syrian father. She grew up speaking Greek and Turkish in her childhood home, in a primarily Arabic-speaking society. Yet, she was educated at French convent schools, thus French became the language in which her early work was first written. However, most of her later work has been written in English.At the age of 24, Adnan traveled to Paris where she received a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne University. She continued her graduate studies in the United States, where she has taught philosophy of art at the universities throughout the country. Etel Adnan as an author is significant and appealing since she confronts complex matters, such as identity, migration and globalization without simplifying and without pushing an agenda in the hands of the reader. Yet, her clear and highly personal opinions illustrate a strong ethos, and her presence is ever clear and much appreciated.Selected publications: "Sitt Marie Rose", "In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country", "The Indian Never Had a Horse and Other Poems", "Of Cities and Women", "Letters to Fawwaz".PurposeThe Etel Adnan Award for Women Playwrights aspires to increase the number of plays penned by women writers residing in the Arabic-speaking countries. The mission is to disseminate submitted plays in the Arab-speaking region, also elsewhere, particularly in Sweden, which hosts a wide-spread Diaspora from the Middle East.Recurrence of the competitionThe Etel Adnan Award will recur on annual basis during the coming three years, starting from 2010. The last award will be announced during the 2012 WPI Conference.PrizeOne play will be selected by a jury each year. Each laureate will be rewarded the sum of USD 5000, as well as the opportunity to be translated into English. Each play will be presented at a reading during the 2012 WPI Conference.After the 2012 ceremony, one of the three awarded plays will be co-produced by the Swedish National Touring Theatre and the Al-Madina Theatre, and staged in Lebanon as well as Sweden.JuryA jury comprising of scholars, professional playwrights and other artists from the Arabic-speaking region and Sweden will select three plays during 2010 and 2012 (one play for each year).Submission guidelines· The play must be written by a woman residing in an Arabic-speaking country.· Do NOT send the entire play. Please, send an excerpt that is 10 pages long (please, send an excerpt/passage, not an abstract). · Each playwright may only submit one play on annual basis.· The play may not entail more than six actors on stage (the number of characters in the play is unlimited)· The play must be submitted in Arabic, or French or English (or a combination of the two or three listed languages), in digital and hard copy using standard script formatting, with cover or title sheet. · Do NOT include your name on the play. · The play must be accompanied by a letter containing playwright’s name, address, telephone number, email address, and a short biography (one paragraph). · Enclose an email address and a self-addressed, stamped envelope with adequate postage for return of play. Plays received without return envelope and adequate postage will be recycled.· Submission Deadline for the 2011 Award: 19:00pm, 15 November 2011· Where to send the play NAME : Masrah Al Madina ADDRESS: Saroula BLDG, Hamra Street, Beirut, Lebanon EMAIL : eteladnanawards_gmail.comThe hosts of the Etel Adnan AwardAl Madina Theatre, RiksteaternRiksteatern, established in 1933, is Sweden’s leading nationwide theatre. Our mission is to create mental juxtapositions in many languages in order to set thoughts and feelings in motion. Together with our 40,000 members, Riksteatern is set firmly in tradition, yet at the same time we seek new expressions, new audiences and new artists. For more information, visit: www.riksteatern.se For more information about the WPI, visit: www.wpinternational.net/
contact

Al Madina Theatre Association for Arts & Culture

Saroulla Bldg, Hamra street

Beirut, Lebanon

T: +961 1 75 30 10 / 11

F: +961 1 75 30 12