Silvia Gribaudi's show poster at the al-Madina theater. (Rights reserved)
After the campaign against Wajdi Mouawad, which resulted in the management of Monnot Theater canceling his world premiere “Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons,” which was scheduled for April 30 in Beirut, social media are on fire, denouncing Graces’ performance in Israel. The show is scheduled for this Tuesday, July 9, as a one-off performance at al-Madina Theater with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute.
It all started with a tweet Lebanese comedian Aida Sabra posted on July 7 on X. Addressing the director of the al-Madina theater, Nidal al-Achkar, and Pierre Abi Saab, former cultural author with al-Akhbar newspaper, working for the al-Mayadeen channel, accusing them of double standards.
The first was by programming a show already presented in Tel Aviv at her theater in Hamra, even though she had spearheaded the smear campaign against Wajdi Mouawad that led to the cancellation of his play in Beirut. The second was for not having denounced the fact that the show was performed in Israel, although he is known for speaking out against any direct or indirect connection with “the Zionist entity.”
A disputed passage in Tel Aviv
“Where are those who fight against normalization with Israel? Why don't they come forward, these advocates of the Palestinian cause and these journalists so quick to wage smear campaigns?” asked Sabra above a screenshot image of an article published in July 2023 in The Jerusalem Post announcing Gribaudi's performance in Tel Aviv, paralleled by an article in L’Orient-Le Jour announcing it in Beirut as part of its world tour, a year later.
Screenshot of Aida Sabra's tweet comparing L'Orient-Le Jour's announcement of the Beirut show with the one published in the Jerusalem Post a year earlier.
“I was not aware of the Italian choreographer’s visits to Israel,” Abi Saab immediately replied. He “cleared his name,” stressing that he would do his “duty” and what his “convictions and conscience dictate,” by calling for a boycott of the show unless “Gribaudi holds a press conference from Beirut, announcing her solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause, and calling for an immediate end to the genocide taking place in Gaza.”
At the same time, Sabra was criticized for her “vengeful spirit.” This is concerning the fact that the comedian is a pro-Mouawad, having acted under his direction and notably played the Lebanese-Canadian playwright's mother in the play Mère, premiering in 2021 at the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris.
Al-Madina Theater: ‘It’s not up to us to cancel it’
As for the management of the al-Madina theater, they simply stated that the show would go on. “It is not up to us to cancel it. If it turns out that there’s something wrong with this show, it’s up to the government to take the appropriate measures. We’re only concerned with art and culture,” Louay Ramadan, the theater’s administrative director, told L’Orient-Le Jour. Achkar did not respond to L’Orient-Le Jour’s requests for comment when asked about her position on the “Mouawad issue” in which she was one of the main instigators.
L’Orient-Le Jour also tried to speak to the Italian Cultural Institute but to no avail.
For her part, Monnot director Josyane Boulos told L’Orient-Le Jour that she “fully understands Aida Sabra’s reaction, having personally suffered from what happened with Wajdi Mouawad. “Nevertheless, it’s time to put an end to this one-upmanship,” she said. “No one has the right to give lessons in nationalism and patriotism to others,” she added. “Humanity is a mixture of ideologies. To want to impose one’s own on others at all costs, while not applying it to oneself, is paradoxical, to say the least.”
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Joelle El Khoury.
