Moussem Repertoire

Within the performing arts, Moussem focuses on producing performances and supporting choreographers, directors and playwrights who bring fresh perspectives to the performing arts scene. In our increasingly diverse world, it is more essential than ever to bring global perspectives and new stories to the stage. In recent seasons, Moussem has collaborated with various partners to develop youth theatre productions, with the aim of questioning, broadening, influencing and galvanising the prevailing artistic field.
Through the specific project Moussem Repertoire, we introduce theatre texts from the ‘Arab world’ by translating these texts and publishing them in Dutch. We seek out works by playwrights who have undeniably played a significant role in the development of contemporary theatre in the region. These are authors such as Saad Allah Wannous, Tayeb Saddiki and Issam Mafouz, who in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s shaped a form of theatre that looked to its own heritage and various local traditions, whilst bringing together more Western theatre methods. In addition to the undisputed ‘great’ playwrights, the project also focuses on texts by young contemporary writers and directors who reflect the current diversity of theatre.

In recent years, five theatre texts have been published as part of the project. In 2015, this was the text Rituals, Signs and Changes by Saadallah Wannous. In 2017, the texts The Dictator by Issam Mafouz and Shut Up and Dig by Hala Moughanie were published, and this year the texts Goats by Liwaa Yazji’ and I Don’t Remember Anymore by Waël Ali were added. In the coming year, work will begin on the translation and publication of ‘Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdi’, an important text by the Moroccan playwright and director Tayeb Saddiki.

The interplay between local artistic traditions and the theatrical form introduced by European colonialism is today one of the defining features of theatre in the region. The sheer variety of languages alone lends the theatre in the hyper-diverse ‘Arab world’ an impressive variety and complexity. There is a substantial output of contemporary theatre within a dynamic field that has long been regarded as a distinct tradition in its own right, rather than a European form. It is a rich theatrical world which, through the various diasporas, establishes not only relational but also substantive links between North and South. It concerns literary theatre works that offer insight into societies with which we are in daily contact and about which the public is curious.