- Theatre
- Decolonial Narratives
- SPRING coproduction
No Man’s Land – الأرض الحرام
If the present is broken, can we reimagine the future? In his first work for the stage, alaa minawi continues the search he started with The Liminal. Traveling through Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine, he explores the “no man’s land”: a space between worlds where the imagination can breathe again.
We are looking for a place
Neither on stage nor among the audience
Neither in the imagination nor in the pleasant reality we are living
Neither inside the body nor outside its peripheries
A place that is neither here nor there
In his first work for the stage, No man’s land, alaa minawi invites the audience to explore the potential of the space in between. The performance is the second part of his series on Arab Futurism, a movement that reimagines the future from a present that no longer functions. While his award-winning installation The Liminal (IDFA 2024) explored the physical confinement of living “within the walls,” minawi now embraces the poetic and political openness of the theatre.
Joined by performer Wajdi, minawi travels through the histories of Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine. Together, they navigate a territory that belongs to no one: no man’s land. The greater the tension between two worlds, the larger this space becomes. For minawi, this no man’s land is not a void, but precisely the place where the imagination can breathe again.
No man’s land is a powerful response to today’s reality. It is a plea to seek out the spaces where a new future can emerge, especially when the present feels broken.
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Credits
Director and writer: alaa minawi
Performers: alaa minawi – Wajdi Khalid
Assistant Director and Production Manager: Georges Abboud
Technical Director: Mohammad Farhat
Stage Manager: Mirvat Salhab
Text Advisor: Lamia Abi Azar
Costumes props sourcing and innovation: Wissy Il Bissy
Sound Designer: Jawad Chaaban
Poster Designer: Chadi Aoun
Scenography and Light Designer: alaa minawi
Videos Documentation and Trailers: Bachar Khattar
Assistant Scenographer: Hassan Mourad
Vocal Consultant: Oussama Abdelfattah
Music:
Hawi El Fadayel – Areej Ensemble
Neblina – Ziad Moukarzel
Wahet el Ghoroob (sunset Oasis) – Tamer Karawan
Once Upon a Time (Take two) – Evgeny Grinko
Special Thanks: Roula Melki – Marielise Aad – Josyane Bolous – Nidal Al Achcar – Issam Bou Khaled – Abdo Nawwar – Aline Gmayel – Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh – Jalal Lawati – Ahmed El Attar – Ahmad Al Khatib – Sarah Nohra – Ibrahim Nehme – Hussein Baydoun – Marijn Lems – Liesje Knobel – Aart van Bolhuis – Grzegorz Renske – Katerina Bakatsaki – Hilde Guri Bohlin – Petra Serhal – Karim Dakroub – Ahlam Dirani – Mervat El Yafi – Youmna Kambris – Roy Sfeir – Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – Beirut Art Center – Dar El Nimer for Arts and Culture.
This project is supported by: Ibsen Scope – SPRING Performing Arts Festival – Cultural Resource – Houna Center – Het Huis Utrecht – Hammana Artist House -Amalgam – Le Monnot Theater
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