Theater directing; a negotiation with the present ​

​​​with Hashem Adnan

What is the workshop about?
Directing involves a sequence of stages that can be constructed and reconstructed according to the needs of each creation. These stages include: reading, improvising, constructing scenes, setting up images, setting up spaces and more. Can we consider directing as a constant attempt to democratize the power of the external eye?
The workshop will address the different stages of the directing process (reading, improvising, constructing scenes/images/spaces, and more…), stages that can be re-questioned according to the needs of each creation. In addition, it will explore critically the position of the director as an “external eye”, to ask questions about a possible democratization of the directing process, through collective participation.

What is the approach
 Designing the environment for a creative directing process that feeds on the input of each and every member of the performance team, while experimenting with the influence of space and society on the act of directing.
The workshop will consist of a series of creative exercises (to direct a short solo performance, a short scene involving 3 performers, and a scene with all workshop participants).
The approach to directing is one that involves each and every member of the performance team. It will explore the creative process of directing as one that is in constant negotiation with elements of the present: space, time, material conditions.

What is the 

From this workshop, participants will come out with the tools to explore a participatory approach to directing, through:
​— Group directing exercises
— Directing movement-based scenes
— Directing a solo short performance
— Directing a scene with dialogue

About Hashem Adnan
Hashem Adnan is a searching body and soul. He came to this planet in1984, landed in Lebanon and loved the 80ies despite all its traumas.
​Hashem is a director, playwright, actor and organizer based in Beirut. He acquired his BA in acting and directing from the Lebanese University in 2006. He played the mad man in his graduation collective project and this mad man lives inside him ever since.
He is particularly interested in the political dimension behind every breath, bite, text and event. He practices performance as a space of re-creation of reality and is interested in art practices that operate outside of the neoliberal realm and at their potential collective, cooperative and individual structures and methods. His work combines collective and solo projects, theater plays and performance interventions and short films. In his quest for meaning and meaning making he uses different tools and mediums including video, poetry, voice and Facebook posts.

Location 

Dates & Times 
Dates & Times: 
Thursday 23 June 17:00 - 21:30
​Friday      24 June 17:00 - 21:30