On Thursday, 17 September at 8:00 PM, the Croatian premiere of When I Saw the Sea by Beirut-based choreographer and director Ali Chahrour will take place at the Zagreb Youth Theatre.
When I Saw the Sea is a powerful performance that uses dance, music, and theatre to explore the experiences of migrant women workers in Lebanon and their struggle for dignity, freedom, and the right to shape their own lives.
The performance brings together Rania, Zena, and Tenei, three women who came to Lebanon as migrant workers and have since become activists advocating for the rights and visibility of marginalized workers. Their personal and collective stories shed light on the Kafala sponsorship system — a system that makes migrant workers dependent on their employers and exposes them to exploitation, discrimination, and various forms of violence.
Through movement, voice, and music, the performance explores experiences of war, exile, motherhood, displacement, and the everyday struggle for survival. At the same time, it speaks of the resilience and solidarity of women who, despite traumatic experiences, transform their stories into acts of resistance and calls for change.
Running time: 70 minutes
Age recommendation: Not suitable for audiences under 14.
Please note: The performance includes stage haze and loud sounds.
AUTHOR AND PERFORMING TEAM
Direction and choreography: Ali Chahrour / Performers: Zena Moussa, Tenei Ahmad, Rania Jamal / Music composed and performed by: Lynn Adib, Abed Kobeissy / Assistant director and choreography: Chadi Aoun / Lighting design and technical direction: Guillaume Tesson / Assistant technical direction: Pol Seif / Sound design: Benoît Rave / Set design: Guillaume Tesson, Ali Chahrour / Communication: Chadi Aoun / Photography: Lea Skayem / Graphic design: Christina Atik / Text editor: Hala Omran / Text translation: Marianne Noujeim
PRODUCTION
Producer: Ali Chahrour
Production managers: Christel Salem, Chadi Aoun
CO-PRODUCTION
Le Festival d’Avignon / Ibsen Scope / HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin / Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) / Al Mawred al Thaqafi / DeSingel, Antwerpen / Domino, Zagreb / Perforations Festival / Holland Festival / Zürcher Theater Spektakel / Al Madina Theater
WITH THE SUPPORT
Beryte Theater / L’Institut Français de Beyrouth / Wicked Solutions / WASL Productions / Beit el Laffé / Raseef, Beirut / Houna Center / Orient 499
SPECIAL THANKS
Coffee / Megaphone / Daraj Media / Hammana Artist House / Zoukak Theater / Seenaryo / Mohana Ishak / Hussein Hajj / Abdallah Hatoum / Anthony Sahyoun / Ali Khedr / Eric Deniaud / Chrystèle Khodr / Raymond Zakaria / Hind Hamdan / Viany Mariam Sesay / Sarie Teshome / Aisha Temam / Raheel Teshome / Mihret Birhane / Laurentine Mbekati / Sophie Ndongo / Jouma Fayé / Mar Ndongo
ALI CHAHROUR
Born in Beirut, the choreographer and dancer Ali Chahrour, invents a gesture, freed from Western codes and models, which acts as a reflection of his culture and the political, social and religious context in which he evolves. In a previous series of shows, part of his trilogy “Death” -“Fatmeh” (2014), “Leila’s Death” (2015) and “May he Rise and smell the fragrance” (2017) – he summoned funeral liturgies mixing tradition with a sharp modernity. He then undertook a second series of performances devoted to “Love”, with “Night”(2019), followed by “Told by my Mother” (2021), “The Love Behind My Eyes” that won the ZKB Patronage prize at the 2022 Zurich Theater Spektakel and concluded with “Iza Hawa” (2023). Combining lyrical poetry and tangled bodies, Ali Chahrour’s performances were presented at Avignon festival in 2016, 2018 and 2022 and in many other festivals around the world. Currently, he is preparing to work on a new trilogy around the theme of “Fear”.
