Samar Saleh at the Monnot Awards ceremony in July 2025. (Credit: Chris Ghafary/Homemade theatre)
Everyone knows Samar Saleh. Or rather, all the regulars at Monnot Theater in Achrafieh, where the sharp-witted brunette has been running the box office for five years, know her. With her warm smile, the young woman, whose features she inherited from her Eritrean mother, has become the theater’s mascot. She is a familiar presence, appreciated by audiences, actors and directors alike. After spending so much time around them, she caught the theater bug. She leaves her ticket counter for two weeks to take the stage in "Daraje Tenye" ("Second Class"), a play showing in the small Act Hall, where she plays the lead role. And not just any role: her own.Yet the Monnot box office clerk did not take to the stage to make herself a star. Even though she clearly has what it takes: a face that catches the light, a strong presence,...
Everyone knows Samar Saleh. Or rather, all the regulars at Monnot Theater in Achrafieh, where the sharp-witted brunette has been running the box office for five years, know her. With her warm smile, the young woman, whose features she inherited from her Eritrean mother, has become the theater’s mascot. She is a familiar presence, appreciated by audiences, actors and directors alike. After spending so much time around them, she caught the theater bug. She leaves her ticket counter for two weeks to take the stage in "Daraje Tenye" ("Second Class"), a play showing in the small Act Hall, where she plays the lead role. And not just any role: her own.Yet the Monnot box office clerk did not take to the stage to make herself a star. Even though she clearly has what it takes: a face that catches the light, a strong...