On Death Etcetera : a monologue about intergenerational trauma, humour and the Lebanese civil war.
Zad El Bacha’s first full length solo work will appear as part of the No Direction Home festival hosted by the Camden People’s Theatre.
This play is about a mother who lived through the Lebanese civil war, and her daughter, who has not. It’s about the way this mother speaks to her daughter about trauma, and about the funny, heart-breaking stories which she tells as one would tell a fairy tale, or what happened that day at the supermarket. There is much that cannot make it inside these narratives, and this play is about all that is left out, too. With humour, physical theatre and a dash of Arab pop, it explores the ways a daughter interacts with these stories, how they shape and contrast with her own life.
All the stories in the play are based on real conversations between a daughter and her mother who survived the Lebanese civil war.
This production contains mentions of sexual assault and physical violence. Recommended for ages 12+.
Presented by Zad
Zad El Bacha is a queer brown writer, activist and theatre-maker, working between Lebanon, Italy and the UK. With Simran Uppal, she has devised two sold-out plays, using humour to reclaim the humanity of marginalised people. Lady of the Sheets (November 2017, the Michael Pilch Studio, Oxford) offered a “powerful and horrible and thought-provoking” (Cherwell) insight into female sexuality, whilst the retelling of the Mesopotamian myth Ishtar (Februray 2018, the Burton Taylor Studio, Oxford) was described as “poignant, dark, and fun” (The Poor Print). Her spoken word has appeared in the sold-out Medea (May 2018, O’Reilly Theatre, Oxford) and she has performed at the Poet’s Corner at The World Transformed conference (Liverpool, September 2018).
Tickets for On Death Etcetera can be purchased from the Camden People’s Theatre Box Office.
Full price £12, concessions £10.
This show forms part of a double bill with The Cocoa Butter Show (3 November, 8.30pm); tickets for both shows can be purchased together for a total of £16.
https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/production/on-death-etcetera/
The No Direction Home festival is a three-week event exploring displacement, migration, and refuge. Workshops, discussions, and theatre will be presented by artists from the UK and worldwide.
