“Waiting for the Birds” from Portugal
The “Tiro Association for the Arts” and “Istanbuli Theatre” launched the activities of the tenth session of the “Lebanon International Theater Festival” in Tripoli, and it will continue until the end of this year in the “Free Lebanese National Theatre”, a tribute to the spirit of the artist Khaled Al Qasimi, and under the slogan “Tripoli is the capital of Arab culture.” With the participation of Arab and foreign theatrical performances, including the play “The Boat” directed by Sharh Al-Bal Abd Al-Hadi from Libya, “Insist in the Name of God” performed and directed by Mustafa Al-Hilali from Iraq, “The Sultan” written and directed by Salem Al-Mansouri from Qatar, “Waiting for the Birds” written by Carlos Pessoa and directed by Ana Palma and Herlandson Duarte from Portugal, and “Hope for Life” performed and directed by Zilur Rahman John from Bangladesh and Canada, “Reenactment Theater” by the Tiro Arts Ensemble from Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
The performances compete within the official competition of the festival in the categories of awards for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Text, Best Scenography, Best Direction, Best Integrated Work, and the award of the jury consisting of Dr. The guest of honor of the festival is the great artist Mohammed Al-Mansour from Kuwait. On the sidelines of the festival, training workshops will be held for children entitled “Story Builders”, taught by Ana Dias from the Da Grajim Theater in Portugal, and seminars will be held in which Dr. Jana Al-Hassan, director Salah Atwi and actor Omar Mikati will participate. Actor and director Qassem Istanbuli, founder of the Lebanese National Theater, which recently won the UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, affirmed: “The continuation of free festivals and training workshops despite all the crises around us constitutes an important opportunity for convergence and an opportunity for the public to get acquainted with different cultures from the world so that art is always a right for all with efforts.” Young volunteers to work for the sake of art.”
Preventing the Libyan delegation from entering Beirut
Beirut – “politics”
The Libyan theatrical delegation participating in the Lebanon Theater Festival in Tripoli was not allowed to leave Rafic Hariri International Airport, under the pretext that the Libyan actors need prior security approval, knowing that the actors are still being held at the airport and the Minister of Culture, Muhammad Wissam al-Murtada, did not move a finger.
In the context, the founder of the Lebanese National Theater, actor and director, Qassem Istanbuli, appealed to those concerned to work to allow the Libyan theater team to leave the airport and head to Tripoli. They have nothing to do with politics, neither from near nor from afar, and they only master theatrical art.
