In 2024, migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, already vulnerable under the kafala system and caught in the midst of a devastating war, were abandoned by their employers and left to fend for themselves. While some lost their lives in the bombings, others, searching for safety after being excluded from state shelters for displaced citizens, found refuge along Beirut’s seafront. There, seeing the sea for the first time in their lives, they experienced what they themselves described as “an endless horizon of freedom.”

Ali Chahrour turns his attention to these women and, for the first time, brings three of them to the stage. Zena, Tenei and Rania tell their own stories, as well as the stories of hundreds of other women who remain unseen. Their testimonies shed light on the daily realities of migrant domestic workers living under the kafala system, a labour regime that has been widely criticised internationally for the dependency and control it imposes on workers.

At the same time, their personal journeys intersect with the successive crises that have shaped contemporary Lebanon: economic collapse, the pandemic, the Beirut port explosion, armed conflicts and mass displacement. Through these stories, the performance paints a broader portrait of a society in constant transformation, where notions of home, loss, motherhood and survival acquire new meanings.

On stage, movement, music and voice become tools of testimony and resistance. Accompanied by the music of Abed Kobeissy and the voice of Lynn Adib, the performers transform individual experiences into a collective claim for dignity and freedom.

With his distinctive human-centred approach, Ali Chahrour creates a work of profound emotional intensity and political resonance, bringing invisible realities into view and redefining the notion of heroism through the lives of people who, despite adversity, continue to struggle, care and dream.

…an endless horizon of freedom…

CREATIVE TEAM

Direction & choreography: Ali Chahrour
Performers: Zena Moussa, Tenei Ahmad, Rania Jamal
Music composed and performed by: Lynn Adib, Abed Kobeissy
Assistant to the direction and choreography: Chadi Aoun
Light design & Technical director: Guillaume Tesson
Assistant to the Technical director: Pol Seif
Sound designer: Benoît Rave
Scenography: Guillaume Tesson, Ali Chahrour

Production: Ali Chahrour
Coproduction: Holland Festival, Festival d’Avignon, Ibsen Scope, HAU, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC, Al Mawred al Thaqafi, deSingel, Domino Zagreb – Perforations Festival, Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Al Madina Theater
With support from: Beryte Theater, L’Institut Français de Beyrouth, Wicked Solution, WASL Productions, Beit el Laffé, Raseef, Beirut, Houna cener, Orient 499

Special thanks to: Kafa, Megaphone, Daraj Media, Hammana Artist House, Zoukak Theatre Company, Seenaryo, Mohana Ishak, Hussein Hajj, Abdallah Hatoum, Anthony Sahyoun, Ali Khedr, Eric Deniaud, Chrystèle Khodr, Raymond Zakaria, Hind Hamdan, Viany Ngemakoue, Sophie Ndongo, Jouma Fayé, Mariam Sesay, Sarie Teshome, Aisha Temam, Raheel Teshome, Mihret Birhane, Laurentine Mbekati

Running time: 70΄ no interval

NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL IDENTITY

CO-ORGANISERS: Nicosia For Art Ltd, Nicosia Municipality
MAIN SPONSOR: Deputy Ministry of Culture, Department of Contemporary Culture
GOLD SPONSORS: VF Foundation, Allwyn
SILVER SPONSOR: PwC
OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR: Phileleftheros Media Group
SUPPORTERS: L’Oréal Paris, French Institute of Cyprus, The Classic Hotel, Ethimo
PARTNER: Press and Information Office
HOSPITALITY SPONSORS: Centrum Hotel, Altius Boutique Hotel
OFFICIAL FESTIVAL CAR: Pilakoutas Group
EXCLUSIVE TICKETING PARTNER: more.com

Ticket Prices

Zone A: €30
Zone B: €25 / €20 reduced ticket*
Zone C: €20 / €20 reduced ticket*
Zone D: €15

*Reduced tickets: Senior Citizens 65+, Students, Unemployed Persons, Persons with Disabilities PwD.

Special rates apply for group bookings.

For group bookings and tickets for persons with disabilities PwD, please contact the theatre box office directly.