Marhaba Maghreb Festival Set for Sutton Theatres Next Month

Marhaba Maghreb (Welcome Maghreb) is the UK's first festival celebrating contemporary North African theatre and dance. In the wake of the post-independence in the Arab World and ongoing media focus on the region, 'Marhaba Maghreb' festival aims to give a voice to some of the most important young North African artists who are exploring globally relevant issues whilst also defying our preconceptions. The festival will gather three distinct companies with artists from Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, in addition to a rich programme of accompanying events.

The festival opens with French-Algerian choreographer Hervé Koubi's UK debut What The Day Owes to the Night. This highly physical, stunningly fluid work for 12 Algerian male dancers combines capoeira, martial arts, urban and contemporary dance with powerful imagery evocative of Orientalist paintings and the stone filigree of Islamic architecture. With previous openings at the Bolshoi and New York Ballet, we're very proud to be the venue that premieres this remarkable project in London.

Other highlights of the festival include a physical theatre Plastic from award-winning Tunisian director Meher Debbich Awachri, about young North Africans aspirations. This international co-production with theatres and festivals in UK, Netherlands and Italy. The show exposes the human conflict between East and West, between those who think they are winners, and others who think they are losers. What brings the young people together is the trade of empty plastic bottles.

Beri Juraic, Director of Sutton Theatres and Festival curator said: "As someone who has been working and visiting North Africa regularly, I have been fascinated by the distorted image of the people and the region in the Western media. By giving a platform to young artists from the region who are already being recognised on the international stage, I wanted to show that that image should and must be rectified."

The festival also features Cie El-Ajouad's debut with their 2013 Avignon Festival hit End/Ignified, written by the controversial Algerian journalist Mustapha Benfodil about self-immolations which started the Arab spring.

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The Secombe
21 November 2015, 7:30pm
Cie Herve Koubi (Algeria): What The Day Owes To The Night
(UK PREMIERE) - DANCE

A highly physical, stunningly fluid work for 12 Algerian male dancers that combines capoeira, martial arts, urban and contemporary dance.

29 November 2015, 2:30pm & 8:00pm
Meher Awachri: Hamlet (based on the Arabic translation)
THEATRE

A physical theatre version of Hamlet. In an arts complex in one of the rough neighbourhoods of the Tunisian capital, four actors are rehearsing Hamlet. But why? What connection do they have with the issues raised by the play and with Hamlet himself? What pushes them to perform? Is there a need for their theatre?

The Cryer
22 - 25 November 2015, 7:30pm
Meher Awachri: Plastic
(UK PREMIERE) - DANCE/THEATRE

This international co-production by the award-winning Tunisian director Meher Awachri about the aspirations of young North Africans and exposing the human conflict between East and West.

28 November 2015, 7:30pm
Cie El-Ajouad: End/Ignified
(UK PREMIERE) - THEATRE

It was an act of self-immolation that started the Arab Spring. An extreme gesture of social protest that spread across the Maghreb region and even further. Director Kheireddine Lardjam commissioned Mustapha Benfodil, controversial writer and journalist of the Algerian daily newspaper El-Watan, to give a voice to these people.

29 November 2015, 6:00pm
Cie El-Ajouad: The World Sleeps in An Arab Woman
(UK PREMIERE) - PERFORMANCE

From Tunis to Benghazi, from Cairo to Sanaa, Arab women started the Arab independance before current events. Today, they are the first to be threatened by the wind of conservativism. They now need to begin a second struggle for a cultural, social and sexual revolution. At the heart of this is the birth of true democracy, with Arab women writers choosing the pen as their last weapon. In this piece, Kheirredine Lardjam helps us hear their cries.

The Secombe, 42 Cheam Road, Sutton SM1 2SS
Sutton station (7 mins), 151, 213 & 413 buses

The Cryer, 39 High Street, Carshalton SM5 3BB
Carshalton station (9 mins), Wallington station (13 mins), 407, X26, 157 & 127 buses

www.suttontheatres.co.uk

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