Ahmad in the show by Ali Chahrour "When I Saw the Sea." (Credit: Kassim Dabaji)
With "When I saw the sea," Lebanese dancer, choreographer, and director Ali Shahrour confronted the Lebanese audience with a reality often ignored: that of migrant workers, silent victims of a legally exploitative system, the kafala system. Presented from Thursday, May 1, with four performances at the al-Madina theater in Beirut, this stage work raises the voices of oppressed, marginalized, and violated classes in an intimate, disturbing, and courageous narrative that opens a breach toward freedom.This show was born from a personal experience lived by Shahrour, especially during the recent Israeli war against Lebanon — a war that he says is still ongoing. During this period, dozens of Lebanese families abandoned the domestic workers living with them: left to fend for themselves, without resources, some found themselves...
With "When I saw the sea," Lebanese dancer, choreographer, and director Ali Shahrour confronted the Lebanese audience with a reality often ignored: that of migrant workers, silent victims of a legally exploitative system, the kafala system. Presented from Thursday, May 1, with four performances at the al-Madina theater in Beirut, this stage work raises the voices of oppressed, marginalized, and violated classes in an intimate, disturbing, and courageous narrative that opens a breach toward freedom.This show was born from a personal experience lived by Shahrour, especially during the recent Israeli war against Lebanon — a war that he says is still ongoing. During this period, dozens of Lebanese families abandoned the domestic workers living with them: left to fend for themselves, without resources, some found themselves...
