{"id":3628,"date":"2022-05-05T10:30:31","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T08:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marchlebanon.org\/?post_type=press&p=3628"},"modified":"2023-08-07T09:31:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T07:31:38","slug":"sending-a-message-lebanese-act-out-their-pain-in-a-play","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.marchlebanon.org\/press\/sending-a-message-lebanese-act-out-their-pain-in-a-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Al-Jazeera – \u2018Sending a message\u2019: Lebanese act out their pain in a play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Get to Know Each Other is a play but also part of a wider social programme that includes group psychological support.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kareem Chehayeb<\/a><\/strong> Published On 21 Feb 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beirut, Lebanon<\/strong> \u2013 The audience burst into laughter \u2013 and nearly burst into tears \u2013 as 18 youth and young adults from around Lebanon shared their life stories and struggles with identity, sectarianism, racism, and social marginalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the story of a young Druze man who was bullied because he was poor, a Syrian-Lebanese woman born and bred in Beirut struggling with the country\u2019s discriminatory nationality law, a Sunni man from Tripoli raised in a Shia orphanage on the outskirts of the capital for 14 years without ever knowing his identity \u2013 and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taarafou \u2013 Arabic for \u201cGet to Know Each Other\u201d \u2013 is a play that Lea Baroudi, the co-founder and director of the non-profit organisation MARCH Lebanon, says is more crucial than ever for the troubled country. She brought renowned playwright and poet Yehia Jaber<\/a> to write and direct the play, based on the 18 actors\u2019 real-life experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the Tayouneh clashes, the increasing friction and polarisation and hatred \u2013 working on the ground is important, but sometimes you need a tool that sends a message,\u201d Baroudi tells Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea was to showcase the main issues plaguing our country, through the new generation even, and remove all the stigmas related to regions and highlight how important it is to agree that we do not need to fight based on a certain identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play is part of a wider social programme, and includes group psychological support. Baroudi and MARCH Lebanon for a decade have worked on a variety of community-building and conflict-resolution projects in Tripoli and the capital Beirut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performances took place in Beirut\u2019s Sunflower Theater, right by the Tayouneh roundabout where armed clashes between Christian Lebanese affiliates and Shia parties Hezbollah and Amal took place last October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was hesitant at first, but after meeting Yehia Jaber and Lea Baroudi, I decided to go for it,\u201d 31-year-old Ibrahim Nazha tells Al Jazeera. The tattoo artist and aspiring rapper was the eldest among the actors, all of whom never acted on stage before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aspiring rapper Ibrahim Nazha says people spewed racist comments at him because his mother was from Liberia [Courtesy: Youssef Itani\/MARCH]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nazha shared his story about how he experienced racism in his native Baalbek, because his mother was from Liberia. \u201cThey would call me \u2018coal\u2019,\u201d he told the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actors high-fived and embraced one another after another fully booked performance, but both Baroudi and Nazha say it took a while to reach that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven the youth involved in the play were not all in this mindset in the beginning,\u201d Baroudi admits. \u201cSome people wanted to stop, and there were arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nazha originally doubted the play would amount to anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt first, I felt I was neglecting my family, and I wasn\u2019t sure if this play will mean anything,\u201d Nazha says, admitting the long rehearsals and time commitment drained him. \u201cBut something kept bringing me back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanon at a \u2018turning point\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baroudi says Lebanon has been \u201ccantonized\u201d since the end of the civil war in 1990, deepening existing societal divisions based on sect, religion, and even region. The country did implement a reconciliation process, as most of the combatants from the war remain among Lebanon\u2019s most influential political leaders, with huge stakes in the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost all the performers were born over a decade after the civil war ended, but still reel from deep societal divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m convinced that we\u2019re at a turning point for Lebanon,\u201d Baroudi says. \u201cPeople say the problems are corruption, the political class, [no] independence of the judiciary \u2013 but for me, there are underlying problems that are the reasons behind all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanon continues to suffer from a crippling two-year economic crisis<\/a> that has pushed more than three-quarters of the population into poverty. The Lebanese pound has lost about 90 percent of its value, and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese families now need humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baroudi says the country will never recover without people breaking these divides and building ties based on their common experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nazha echoes similar sentiments and says he hopes the play will inspire people to set aside preconceived notions of the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone is from a different sect or region, but we\u2019re all going through the same thing,\u201d Nazha says. \u201cWe\u2019re all human at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Taarafou brought together 18 young adults from across Lebanon to share stories of sectarianism racism and social marginalisation [Courtesy: Youssef Itani\/MARCH]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
Click Here to View Original Article <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get to Know Each Other is a play but also part of a wider social programme that includes group psychological support. 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