In a country that is sinking into an unprecedented economic and social crisis, there remains this unifying festival which marks with an artistic and cultural imprint “Le Printemps de Beyrouth”. Since its launch in 2009 under the leadership of Gisèle Khoury and the Samir Kassir Foundation, the Beirut Spring Festival has never failed to meet the public. Whatever the pitfalls he had to face.
In 2020, in the midst of a health crisis, it was held online and in summer (in September), postponed by a few months due to confinement and tragedy in Beirut.
In the spring of 2021, it returned to a “physical” but restricted mode, favoring an “intellectual” program of round tables focusing on cultural policy strategies adaptable to the (collapse) situation of the Cedar country. For the programming of this year 2022, its organizers (or, should we rather say, its organizers), headed by actress Randa Asmar, fought against all economic and financial difficulties to offer “to the Lebanese, to young people in particular, moments of joy and culture which bring them back (a little) towards this normal life of which they are deprived”, declares to L’Orient-Le Jour the director of the festival. And this through 3 different shows. In this case: a stand-up by a young Lebanese comedian and humorist, a preview screening of a British film and a reading of a play.
The challenge of free…
“The big challenge lay in keeping our shows free. One of our fundamental principles, more necessary than ever. And that we have managed to hold without sponsors this year thanks to the network of friends and artists who have previously collaborated with us”, reveals Randa Asmar. Thanks also, it must be said, to the dynamism of the Samir Kassir Foundation, which struggles on all fronts (that of lighting, among other things, by means of a private generator of a public square in the heart of a city outrageously plunged into darkness!) to continue to feed through this artistic and cultural festival “freedoms and ideas”, these lights of the spirit which are the essential pillars of the development of a society.
Chrystèle Khodr, a singular and talented voice of Lebanese theatre. Photo Nasri Sayegh
Three different evenings
With one different performance per evening, this 14th edition of the Beirut Spring Festival will therefore offer three quality evenings to the general public during the weekend of June 3 to 5*.
Starting with Nour Hajjar’s new stand-up comedy on Friday, June 3, at the al-Madina theater in Hamra. An exclusive creation for the opening of the Beirut Spring Festival that the young Lebanese comedian who made his debut in 2016 in English and on the stages of Amsterdam, before returning in 2017 to Lebanon and the Arabic language, has tailor-made to make his compatriots laugh at their own setbacks. The comedian, who also contributes to satirical articles in al-Hudood magazine as well as the writing of the program Maakhar B Leil presented by Salam Zaatari on the local channel MTV, addresses in his scenic monologue topics ranging from problems social and everyday situations to hypothetical scenarios.
The next day, Saturday June 4, the al-Madina theater is still hosting the preview screening of the English film Dracula: The Untold Story produced by the British troupe Imitating The Dog and Leeds Playhouse Productions.
This is a live-action graphic novel inspired by Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire character, but with the story revisited and updated by the band Imitating The Dog. “This scenic group whose work focuses on the fusion of theater and cinema has already presented a play as part of our festival in 2011. It also participated in the online edition of messages for Beirut in 2020. And c It was during the Covid period that its members made this film (subtitled in French) using a very particular technique, notably integrating digital effects in terms of lighting and sound which reverberate in the room”, indicates festival director Randa Asmar.
On Sunday, June 5, place at the theater with the reading, in Arabic with English subtitles, of Rise and Fall of Orient Swiss – Bedtime Stories (“Grandeur et décadence de la Suisse de l’Orient – Contes du soir”). A play by the Lebanese author, actress and director Chrystèle Khodr which promises an immersion in the Lebanon of the 1950s and 1960s, this golden age which shaped the legend (again!) of a Lebanon labeled “Swiss of the East”.
L’affiche du spectacle « Dracula: The Untold Story ».
Not to miss
This closing show, which will be held in the open air on Samir Kassir square in the city center, was created in the form of a “radio piece” in September 2021. Recorded exactly one year after the explosion at the port of Beirut, this creation (supported by the Swiss Embassy in Lebanon and Syria) looks back on episodes of past and present crises in the country of the Cedars. Through the prism, in particular, of the singular figure of Youssef Beidas, a Palestinian-Lebanese businessman, founder in 1951 of the famous Intra bank, who endeavored to make Beirut the commercial and financial center of the Middle East … “And whose controversial bankruptcy in 1966 casts a shadow over the present and still shapes the collective memory (and oblivion) in Lebanon today”, indicates Chrystèle Khodr in her note of intent.
The author and actress also reveals in her performance what binds the grain silos of the port of Beirut (half of which resisted the wave of the explosion, thus protecting part of the city from greater destruction). .. to Youssef Beidas.
So you guessed it: if you had to choose only one show among the three, it would be the one not to miss.
Another recommendation: following the principle of first come first served, the organizers advise you to be on site one hour before the start of the indoor shows.
*Beirut Spring Festival performances all start at 9pm. Free admission, as always.
In a country that is sinking into an unprecedented economic and social crisis, there remains this unifying festival which marks with an artistic and cultural imprint “Le Printemps de Beyrouth”. Since its launch in 2009 under the leadership of Gisèle Khoury and the Samir Kassir Foundation, the Beirut Spring Festival has never failed to meet the public. Some…