In my heart’s eye: The love project
by Zoukak Theatre Company
 
Direction: Maya Zbib
Devised by: Lamia Abi Azar, Omar Abi Azar, Nadim Deaibes, Louloua Ghandour, Mohamad Hamdan, Nathalie Harb, Junaid Sarieddine, Nasri Sayegh and Maya Zbib
Stage design: Nathalie Harb
Lighting design/technical direction: Nadim Deaibes
Music selected and played by: Ziad Nawfal — all tracks taken from the Ruptured Records catalog 2012-2019
Technical Team: Bahaa Baddour, Nourhan Fakhoury, Salim Abou Ayash, Jean Kasswani, Fadi Aajlan
Assistant director: Line Itani
Graphic design: Maya Chami
Stage management: Line Itani, Sari Shreiteh and Marianne Kortbani
Production management: Mohamad Hamdan and Nancy Nasreddine
Communication: Marianne Kortbani
Co-funded by the European Union and Drosos Foundation
 
On stage: Lamia Abi Azar, Louloua Ghandour, Junaid Sarieddine, Nasri Sayegh and Maya Zbib
 
This production was partly developed during a residency at La Mama Umbria, Spoleto, as part of Zoukak receiving the Ellen Stewart International Award. It was in Italy performed on 9^th and 10^th of July 2019 at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds. In Beirut, on the 14^th, 15 ^th, 16 ^th and 20 ^th, 21^st, 22^nd of February 2020 at Zoukak Studio.
 
Special thanks to all the participants in the “Love Interviews”.
 

Zoukak Theatre Company
 
Zoukak was created in 2006 as a non-hierarchical structure, dedicated to theatre practice as social and political involvement, with a belief in theatre as a space for common reflection and in collectivity as a position against marginalizing systems.
 
Through their performances, they tackle topics that question the status-quo in their context and beyond. They structure their research and creation processes around cycles of work, producing an array of projects around specific themes; such as gender and sexuality, history, power and religion, death and immortality, childhood and violence, re-enactment, among others. They have worked and presented performances regionally and internationally, in festivals and venues in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, South America, South East Asia and parts of Africa.
 
Moreover, they are committed to diversifying their theatre tools and applying them in various contexts: through social engagement, therapy, and education, finding ways to connect social interventions with artistic investigations. The company developed a specific approach to drama therapy and socially engaged theatre, providing workshops and training programs to diverse groups, and devising performances in various contexts locally and abroad.
 
Zoukak endeavours to develop an environment of dialogue and reflection around the performing arts in Lebanon and to provide artistic development and international touring opportunities for local artists. They produce collaborations, residencies and events with artists in the company’s studio, producing, “Zoukak Sidewalks Festival” since 2013, and “Focus Liban” (since 2015), a platform that supports the production and diffusion of work by emerging and established artists residing in Lebanon.
 
Since 2016, they have focused on the transmission of knowledge and expertise; delivering several cycles of an in-depth Training of Theatre Practitioners in Psychosocial Mediation Techniques, implementing mentorship programs for groups of youths and emerging artists.
 
Zoukak received the Ibsen Scholarship award (2012), the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Euromed Dialogue Award for social resilience and creativity (2014), the Honorary Citizenship of the City of Palermo (2017), the preamium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists from the Japan Arts Association (2017) and the Chirac Foundation Award of Culture for Peace (2017) and the Ellen Stewart International Award (2018).