Radhouane El Meddeb

A subtle and intense evening with ten artists from post-revolutionary Tunis.

In 1996, Radhouane el Meddeb left Tunisia and moved to France, where he became a well known choreographer. Six years after the beginning of the »Arab Spring« with the revolution in Tunisia, el Meddeb has now gone back to Tunesia to create a piece, which premiered under the stars of an outdoor stage at the Festival d'Avignon in July and is now coming to Hamburg in cooperation with Theaterspektakel Zurich and Tanz im August festival Berlin. On stage are 10 artists from the vibrant cultural scene of Tunis, including the Tunisian film actress Sondos Belhassen, the actor Majd Mastoura (winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlinale 2016), as well as dancers. Although the evening cites images and situations from the collective memory of Tunisia (like the image of the burning vegetable merchant Mohammed Bouazizi), el Meddeb sets in on a quiet but intensified encounter with his ensemble, accompanied by the live music of the outstanding singer Mohamed Ali Chebil and 23 year old pianist Selim Arjoun. The perspective on stage is the poetic perspective of a view of the sea: »I’ll put myself facing the sea, where tears become bursts of laughter, I’ll go into the depths of the country, where I’ve never ventured. I want to go to meet, melt me, know and meet people who have made history, those who move to the rhythm of Tunisia today, which I feel at once so far and so close.« (Radhouane el Meddeb). In addidtion to the 55min long piece, there will be an after talk in French with a German translation after each performance.