GHURBA (8+) / DE MAAN

About the longing for a lost home and the search for a new one. Three flowers in a greenhouse. - And how do you like it here, Iris? Beautiful place? If you need anything, just ask! - There is no fresh air here. And where are the birds? I mean, it's beautiful here, but the sun is shining quite brightly. Is that okay, without any wind? - No, don't worry, a greenhouse is safe. There are no rats here digging up our roots, or goats wanting to eat our leaves, or dogs coming to pee on our beautiful petals. Ghurba is Arabic for 'being away from home' or 'homesickness'. The young flower Iris suddenly wakes up in a different place and is afraid that she will never be able to bloom like this. She misses her home in the mountains and longs to be outside. 'GHURBA' is about being displaced and putting down roots again. About the longing for a lost home and the search for a new one. About the growing pains that come with blooming. Three players search for their inner flower and are set in motion by a play of light and sound. Welcome to the greenhouse: an artificial world that is both funny and suffocating! PRESS: "GHURBA is a visually intriguing production that does not hide its creative ambitions. The scenography and the strong acting performances give the play a unique energy." - Etcetera "Integration in this beautiful poetic creation is not the practical matter that politicians like to make of it. It is primarily about being allowed to bloom mentally. (...) Als Iris finally getting color feels like a universal story about the blooming of every child." (De Standaard) Rimah Jabr writes GHURBA for DE MAAN after RAYA (2018). She grew up in Palestine and found a new home in Belgium and Canada; she still regularly has bouts of ghurba. Her stories are direct but poetic, imaginative but topical, and always full of humor. The characters that populate her stories are always stuck. Between two worlds. Because they cannot leave, they start to philosophize and play games. Atta  Nasser is a director, actor, painter, and draftsman. He followed the acting program of the Palestijnse Nationale Theater El- Hakawati in Jerusalem and drama/directing at the RITCS. He has been seen as a player in performances by, among others, Zuidpool, tg STAN, and Theâtre National. For 'GHURBA', Atta draws from his own experiences with an ever-shrinking home (Jerusalem) and having to start over in another place. Composer, musician, and sound artist Adam Russell creates a mix of ambient sound and music for this performance that interacts with the actors. It imprisons them and invites them to play. CREDITS: direction: Atta Nasser by and with: Jef Hellemans / Tist De Maeyer, Ellen Sterckx, Patricia Kargbo / Manizja Kouhestani text: Rimah Jabr translation: Nathalie Tabury dramaturgy: Femke Stallaert figures & scenography: Paul Contryn, Atta Nasser costume: Katinka Heremans, Florence De Vocht sound design: Adam Russell technique: Tuur Decoene, Dominique Defossez, Bas Van den Bogaert (stage) set construction: Stéphane Vloebergh production management: Noor de Graaf production: DE MAAN co-production: Perpodium, with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgische Federale Overheid