• Théatre Le Monnot
• Jul 02 - Jul 03

Tickets* are also available in branches and at the door (300.000, 350.000, 450.000 or 700.000LBP)

*Prices may vary with respect to the fluctuation of the LBP/USD rate.

26% extra charge is added for online tickets

Mafroukeh brief

Production & Script
MARWA KHALIL & WAFA’A HALAWI

Fundraising & Partnerships Consultant
MICHELE FENIANOS

Production Management
MFG CONSULTING

Direction & Scenography
RIAD CHIRAZI

Cast
SERENA CHAMI, WAFA’A HALAWI & MARWA KHALIL

Visual Communication
WELOVEBRAND

TVC Editing

WAHM Productions

Photography
TAREK MOUKADDEM

Digital Communication
MADISON

Theater

MONNOT THEATER

Ticketing
ANTOINE TICKETING

Synopsis

English

After being the perfect housewife, Amal decides to throw her apron and get a divorce. However, in a society like in Lebanon, divorce is a hectic journey and sometimes even a demeaning one for a woman who decides to move on after her husband’s departure. As Amal confides in her fictive neighbor, she tells her about the reasons behind her divorce, her point of view on life, love, couples, family, and education. Today is her son’s birthday. The broken family has to meet including the ex-husband, his new fiancée, the ex-mother-in-law and the kids. What will be Amal’s place in the family picture? And most importantly now, does she have a place in society?

“Mafroukeh” is a theater play (in Arabic) that tackles the struggles of a Lebanese woman after her divorce. It explores her journey confronting a patriarchal society with archaic traditions, gender limitations, and difficulties to rebuild her life and to cope with new challenges allowing her to be the new person she has become. The play portrays the legal, social, emotional, psychological and economic effects that lead her to feel like a “lesser” citizen. Inferior both in front of the law and to people’s eyes, she is left feeling worn out, torn down, sometimes abused and often used, hence the title “Mafroukeh*”.

*Mafroukeh is a delicious Lebanese dessert but its literate meaning in Arabic is to be washed-out, kneaded, squeezed, drained, etc.

Biography Marwa Khalil: 

Marwa Khalil studied theater and directing films in Lebanon, Paris and New York. She began acting from the age of 18. 

She worked on stage and then went into cinema and TV. She acted in Lebanon as well as in Morocco and participated in foreign films in France and in the US. She played a lead role in two films "Are you Glad I am Here" a Lebanese-American film and "Indigo" a French-Moroccan film.

She also acted in two Lebanese movies "Yalla 3abelkoun" that gathered around 100 000 entries and "Yalla 3abelkoun Chabeb" for which she was awarded the prize for "Best ensemble Cast". Both where on Netflix. 

Few years ago, Marwa was chosen to be the brand ambassador for Nescafe Capuccino Italiano. Recently she is working on several series as an Actress on Shahid: 3al Had (On the Edge), State of agitation, Aarous Beirut, Dance in the rain. Marwa is not only an actress, she has an entrepreneurial vision in the art world.  She has already produced and co-written more than five plays, two of them with Wafa'a Halawi: Znoud el Sitt and now Mafroukeh.

Her first play as a producer, writer was performed in Morocco where she started her career as an actress there playing in several movies and TV series.

She also started a theatre academy "Acting Lab" where she teaches acting for children, teens and adults in Beirut and in Dubai.

She just got her BA in psychology that is helping her understand more human nature and how to use it in writing and in acting. She tries to find bridges between arts and psychology. 

Biography Wafa’a Halawi: 

Wafa’a is a Lebanese/French actress, dancer and filmmaker. 

She has been acting since the age of five, at first mainly in theatre and commercials. Wafa’a graduated from the Lebanese American University, New York Film Academy and University College London. 

Alongside her extensive training and workshops between Dubai, Paris, London and Beirut, Wafa’a joined the dance theatre company Maqamat and performed internationally. Wafa’a also acted in various, TV series: Marks And Spencer webseries London Calling,  Ossti Ossa LBC,  TV series Karma, MTV as well as Aroos Beirut, MBC; and plays: Znoud El Sitt, The Blind etc; and most recently was cast as the protagonist of the Brazilian film Relato de um Certo Oriente by Marcelo Gomes. She was previously in Lebanese feature films: A Petty Bourgeois Dream by Mazen Khaled, In the Name of Tomorrow by Celine Abiad, and Morine by Tony Farjallah.

In addition to teaching film at LAU from 2008 to 2018, Wafa’a is also the director of the Lebanese Film Festival since 2015. Wafa’a co-wrote and co-produced the play “Znoud el Sitt” with Marwa Khalil.

Biography Serena Chami: 

Serena Chami, a lebanese actress, graduated from the lebanese university institute of fine arts with a BA in interior design and a master’s degree in theater. Working in the acting field since 2009 in theater, TV and cinema. Her work includes more than 20 ADs, many TV series and short films, one feature film and more than 10 theater plays. She’s also a puppeteer in the lebanese puppet theater since 2014. Her career also includes humanitarian work as she’s a clown doctor in “ibtissama”, an NGO with the mission to bring smiles to hospitalised children.

Biography Riad Chirazi

Riad Chirazi never set out to be an actor or director. He was a Biology major at the Lebanese American University (LAU) when he stumbled into the world of theatre. Between classes, he and his friends used to have their laughs imitating various characters. It so happened one day he was spotted by a director for an upcoming LAU play. Would he, Riad, be interested in auditioning for it? 

Riad did and landed the lead male role. During the performance, the female lead role forgot her lines and left the stage. All eyes were on Riad. Could he save the scene? 

It was in that moment and in that second that Riad fell in love with theatre as he found himself easily improvising the lines. The scene was saved. The audience didn’t even flinch. 

Riad was hooked. He dutifully finished his biology degree (but still managed to act in nine plays in the last year alone) and immediately reenrolled at LAU to study Communication Arts with an emphasis in drama. 

It was during that time that he began dabbling in writing scripts and came out with a trilogy ‘Once upon time in Thebes’. The play, which he also directed, ended up winning first prize at the Casablanca Theatre Festival in 1997. 

After graduating in 1997, Riad found himself working with big-name directors and playwrights including Ziad Abou Absi, Lina Abiad, Jawad Al Assadi, Chakib Khoury, Aliya Khalidi and Marwan Najjar. 

In 1999, Riad began teaching Drama at the International College and until 2005, juggled both the educational and theatre worlds after which he devoted himself to teaching fulltime. There he found another exciting niche as he wrote and directed over 11 student plays. Some of his most memorable ones include: Point, L.E.B.A.N.O.N, Alert 29-Revolution, 16 years, Beit Biout, Night, and The memoirs of a SriLankan in Lebanon. 

In 2019, Riad got a phone call that carried him back into the professional drama world. Would he, asked Marwa and Wafaa, accept to direct ‘Mafroukeh’? 

Riad didn’t hesitate. Yes!
While it hasn’t been easy juggling his time between teaching and directing, Riad has no regrets. “I have come back home,” he said. “This is my world.” 

And after two years full of uncertainties and unforeseen circumstances, the answer is still: Yes!

Biography Michèle Fenianos

Michèle Fenianos is the Founder | Managing Director of MFG Consulting, a full-service Consulting & Management Agency helping meaningful brands, non-profits & people achieve their full potential.
“I had a fixation with being based in Lebanon. I simply couldn’t bail on Beirut after the 4th of August, a date that disrupted my entire being for life”, Michèle confesses.
Her forte is Management, Strategic Planning, Networking & Partnerships. "Success can't be individualistic; it’s only through communities that we thrive. The Lebanese Diaspora is the flagrant proof », she says.
Michèle pursued studies in International Affairs and Diplomacy with a Magna Cum Laude Distinction. She holds prestigious certificates in Protocol and Diplomatic Practices mainly from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
With 12+ years of experience in Management, Communication, Cooperation, and Socio-Cultural Affairs, Michèle held several senior positions in the private and public sectors in addition to exciting opportunities in International Organizations like UNDP.
« Working in Lebanon carves into your being: Leadership and Resilience. Adapt or die is our Motto especially if you are a Woman. Consequently, I have acquired an important skill, which is “versatility”, Fenianos states.
Michèle is a multilingual professional (Arabic, French, English, German, and Italian) with management experience ranging from VIP Events (Functions customized to royalty and world leaders with obsessive attention to detail) to full-scale multi-million-dollar high profile governmental/IOs development projects.
Michele is a technophile. Her motto post-Covid is based on two words: Experiential and Hybrid. In July 2020, Michèle proudly co-organized the Baalbeck International Festival Covid-19 Concert, entitled « Sound of Resilience ».  It reached 15M views and an epic global reputation. “Time Stopped. Floating. A lapse of mixed feelings especially during coordination. I was alone in the Majesty of Bacchus and the Power of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, I had to pinch myself to focus and lead the teams on the job”, Michèle recalls.

Sponsors

Main Partners

Embassy of Canada to Lebanon, Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, UN Women, Sunny Side Up.

Media Partners

MTV, Promomedia, Radio PAX, Ici Beyrouth, Annahar, L’Agenda Culturel, Lebtivity.

Ambassadors

Embassy of Sweden to Lebanon, Arab Printing Press (APP), Kaysas, Douaihy, Tyros.

Friends of the Cause

Embassy of Mexico to Lebanon, Kafa, Station, Clos St Thomas, Skinny Doe