Before leaving, the Palestinian artist gave Lebanese theater director and actress Rawan Halavi a set of audio materials. Rome’s desire was clear: “He wanted to go up on stage to talk about the hidden parts of his life,” Halavi told us, adding that he had met Rome many years ago at the Hamra cafe, and they had agreed write a play that mimics Rome’s life .. difficulties and the major stages of his life. Sadly this meeting opportunity ended. Rome died before she could fulfill her wish to be the heroine of the play. In this context, Halavi said, “Rim Banna seems to have trusted me before he died, especially since he himself was supposed to do his duty, but death kidnapped him early.” Therefore, over the years, intensive work has been done to improve the project and complete it in a different format.
Thus, the biography “I am Lyle Ma Otlaak” is based on audio material, consisting of approximately 19 recordings, with the voice of Rim. Here the latter lists many details about his life. These records revolve around us in the spaces of Rome and his intimate relationship with places, from Nazareth, to northern Palestine, and the green carob trees he planted in their shade… passing where he sitting in his old house reclining. the slopes of the occupied city, down into invisible spaces mimicking Khayal, the owner of the album “Qamar Abu Laila” (1995). The show focused on a major stage in Reem’s career, when his voice began to weaken due to paralysis of the left vocal cord. “When I first met Prem, his voice was weak, but our perseverance raised his voice, as he always does,” Ravan Halavi said. How can one day silence the voice of Palestinian resistance? How can traditional Palestinian singing mixed with modern music fade? The play “Oh night, how long have you lived” returns to the spectrum of the Palestinian singer and his presence in our souls. The text moves away from the story of the Palestinian singer’s creative life, who, according to Halavi, is known to all, to delve into what is hidden and not spread.
The biography of the show is based on audio material from approximately 19 recordings with Roman voices.
Scenographically, the show is close to “artistic realism,” according to director Salim Al-Awar, and added, “We worked to evoke the image of a Palestinian fighter and try to incorporate his features through makeup, in rather than being a literal reincarnation of the character, but rather a re -creation of the image. ” Rome and its Palestinian appearance ”. The director tried to bring the image closer to the viewer, incorporating the features of the heroine, broadcasting her inner thoughts, rather than incorporating the external appearance. In Oh Night, What Longer You, Rawan Halavi, as a narrator, looks at us at several points, telling us hidden stories, breaking down the fourth wall with the audience, to honor the memory of the artist. singer Reem, who introduced lullabies and traditional songs taken from Palestinian folklore in a modern way, and sang poems by Samih Al-Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish, Tawfik Ziyad, his mother, Zahira Sabbah and others pang makata. And because the show was like a documentary, Halavi tried to build a theatrical system of characters with precision and objectivity. Audio recordings were transcribed, the singer’s television interviews were viewed, and her archives were carefully studied. Halavi worked on creating personality layers with deep and logical structure.
The performance “Oh, night, what are you” is a celebration of Rim Bann’s life and in honor of his struggle. “Rim touched me a lot, especially because he was brave, quarrelsome and strong. Inside Rim Banna is an inexhaustible power plant that can give any Arab woman the same power, ”Ravan Halavi said. The last thing Rome wrote on his Facebook page was: “Don’t be afraid, this body is like a shirt, not strong.” He is right. The body was gone, but the spirit continued to call us through the long nights to fight injustice, aggression, suffering and pain.
* “Oh Night, how long have you been?” Question: 20:30 tonight and July 18, 19 – “City Theater” (Hamra) – Maps are available at all Antoine Library branches and the theater. Pinto.
Source: Al-Akhbar
