{"id":240,"date":"2019-10-22T07:27:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T07:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/?p=240"},"modified":"2022-02-05T13:28:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T13:28:23","slug":"seeking-the-other-staging-the-paroxysms-of-orientalism-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/seeking-the-other-staging-the-paroxysms-of-orientalism-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking the Other: Staging the Paroxysms of Orientalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 <\/a>Yana\nMeerzon<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In this hybrid (essay\/interview) article, Yana Meerzon analyzes the production Mahmoud & Niny<\/em>, directed by Henri Jules Julien and presented at the Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Developed through a series of conversations and workshops with its major participants, Mahmoud El Haddad and Virginie Gabriel, this performance provides an urgent commentary on abuse of cultural and linguistic stereotypes in the situations of everyday intercultural encounters. Together with Mahmoud El Haddad, Meerzon examines how this experimental work turns theatrical subtitles into a powerful political weapon.
Keywords: <\/strong>Mahmoud & Nini, Mahmoud El Haddad, Virginie Gabriel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mahmoud & Nini<\/em> with Mahmoud El Haddad and Virginie Gabriel. Maison Jean Vilar<\/a>, Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud & Nini<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a> is an\nunusual performance. Two people\u2015Mahmoud (a black Egyptian man who is homosexual\nand speaks Arabic) and Nini (a white French woman with short hair and complex\nancestry)\u2014sit next to each other, facing the audience. They use direct address\nto enumerate assumptions about each other and their cultures, all based on\nbiases and stereotypes. It is unclear what it is, specifically, that the\ncharacters are seeking, but I am positive that this performance aims to expose the\ncultural ignorance of its spectators. It intends to demonstrate that whenever\nwe encounter the other, we immediately turn to our personal biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud & Nini<\/em> does not\nnecessarily propose taking action, nor does it provide solutions for avoiding\nthe cultural miscommunications that serve only to breed fear and mistrust.\nInstead, Mahmoud & Nini<\/em> poses its agenda through a more nuanced\napproach: with every question the characters ask and through the jokes they\nmake, the onstage atmosphere gets more and more tight and uncomfortable, with\nthe audience becoming more on-edge, but also more reserved in its reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud and Nini speak\nin their native languages\u2014him in Arabic, her in French. There is a small screen\nabove the two figures, onto which every line is projected into its\ncomplementary language. Mahmoud and Nini, however, do not seem to need these\ntranslations\u2015they are only actors speaking the text. They do not really need to\ncommunicate or understand each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour hair is short\u2015in\nEgyptian culture you would be considered a lesbian,\u201d Mahmoud offers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am an actress and\ncan wear my hair as I wish,\u201d Nini responds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Mahmoud says, \u201cbut\nin Egypt if you are an actress, your hair is long and beautiful, and you do not\nlook or act as a lesbian.\u201d    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen in Egypt wear\nhijab and are expected to do as they are told,\u201d Nini continues. \u201cThey must take\ncare of their families and children; whereas men can work, and smoke, and relax\nas they wish. In France, women can work, and they feel equal to men. In Egypt\nyou should really start working toward these liberal practices . . .\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy friends chose to\nwear their hijab, it is their choice, their free will,\u201d Mahmoud responds. \u201cDo I\nagree with it? I don\u2019t know, it is complicated. My position is complicated\u2015a\nblack man in Egypt, a Muslim and a homosexual. I might disagree with their\nchoices, but I cannot impose them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mahmoud El Haddad in Mahmoud & Nini<\/em>. Maison Jean Vilar<\/a>, Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This exchange, growing\nmore and more uncomfortable as it progresses, exemplifies the type of action\nthat marks this project: the dialogue that probes our assumptions, spoken in\nthe languages unfamiliar to the characters and mechanically translated for the audience,\nprovokes us to fidget in our chairs and to look at each other and at the stage\nwith growing uncertainty, suspicion and awkwardness. The actors\u2019 frontal\nposition re-enforces this idea of the mirror\u2015that the words they say and the\nideas they offer make their spectators, whether we want it or not, implicated\ninto this story of prejudices and force us confront our own cultural\npreconceptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand\nthe logic of this project, I conducted several interviews with the makers and\nparticipants of this show. The conversations took place in July 2019, in\nAvignon, during its annual festival. The excerpts of my interview with Mahmoud\nEl Haddad constitute the core of the following article. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Virginie Gabriel in Mahmoud & Nini<\/em>. Maison Jean Vilar<\/a>, Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The idea of Mahmoud\n& Nini<\/em> was developed by the project\u2019s producer and director Henri Jules\nJulien, a French theatre-maker who spent several years in Egypt. Fascinated by both\nEgypt\u2019s culture and its theatre production (which was mostly unknown to the\nEuropean producers or audiences), Henri Jules Julien took it as his personal\nresponsibility to bring more artists from Egypt to France (Julien, Personal interview\n2019). Mahmoud & Nini<\/em> was \u201cdesigned as an experiment in prejudices\u201d\n(Julien, Program notes 2019). It originated from a series of meetings the\nperformers held and from the questions they asked each other; they \u201cwrote down\nlists of stupid questions they\u2019d heard countless times, of preconceptions, of\ndiscouraging or revolting clich\u00e9s. We laughed a lot, of course, mostly at\nourselves\u201d (Julien, Program notes 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translating those\nencounters into a dramatic text and space of a performance, however, presented\neach of the participants, including Julien himself, with various problems of\nethics: \u201cwhat right did I have to rephrase their questions, to \u2018make them say\u2019\nwhat was important to me but maybe not to them, how legitimate was I in\n\u2018representing\u2019 Nini and Mahmoud, even if they\u2019d become \u2018characters\u2019?\u201d Julien\nasks (Program notes 2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the\nscript oscillates between the post-colonial criticism of East\/West gazes and\nappropriations as articulated by Edward Said\u2019s Orientalism<\/em> and Karl\nMarx\u2019s ideas on who holds the right of representation of whom. Mahmoud &\nNini<\/em> goes further, beyond these obvious dichotomies; it asks more pointed\nquestions, mostly about ethics of intercultural encounter and much like these:\n\u201cwho\u2019s talking? who\u2019s making whom talk? where does the one talking talk from?\u201d\n(Julien, Program notes 2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The script also\ninvites its audience to face the uncomfortable truth about living with the\nother amongst us, to paraphrase Ulrich Beck\u2019s formulation of today\u2019s world as a\nplace for inter-, cross- and trans-cultural cosmopolitanism. These\nuncomfortable truths make the core points of my conversation with Mahmoud El\nHaddad:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud, you have\nbeen doing theatre work for some time now, both at home and here in Europe. How\ndid your story begin?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always wanted to\nstudy theatre, but I ended up studying law. But this did not last too long, as\nI joined a theatre club. From then, I started working as a professional actor,\nboth in theatre and dance, looking for more training in contemporary\ntraditions. This is how I met a lot of international teachers and artists,\nincluding Julien. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of theatre\ndid you do in Egypt?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was very diverse\nwork: from acting in the government sponsored theatre to commercial work,\nparticipating in a classical repertoire but also in the interdisciplinary work.\nContemporary theatre scene is not very large in Egypt, so I decided to start my\nown company Act Two<\/em>. We made three productions Incomplete\nAlliteration<\/em> (2014), Red Does not Suit You<\/em> (2015) and Four\nSeasons<\/em> (2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did your work\nchange when you became an independent producer? Has it become more political, more\nexperimental?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of doing political theatre in Egypt has disappeared by now; it was somewhat possible to do political theatre a little earlier, but not today. What interests me is the idea of human communication\u2014how do we communicate with each other? The play my company produced was called Four Seasons.<\/em> We performed in the venue Rawabet Art Space which, at the time, was reserved for staging the independent work, and which has been recently closed. In Egypt, to produce a play you must go to the Ministry of Culture and get your text approved by the censor. Often, the people who have the power to approve or disapprove of your project are functionaries who do not really understand what art is about. So, it is really difficult to push anything through. To produce Four Seasons,<\/em> I decided not to go with the system. We chose a smaller venue away from the city centre; we did not advertise it properly, just through social media, like Facebook. We invited friends but did not sell tickets officially or use any other marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How risky was this\ndecision? Was it possible for you and your team to get into serious trouble\nwith the authorities, like to be imprisoned? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was risky; it was\npossible that someone would learn about our project, come to demand a special\npermission and stop our performance. But, still, we decided to go on. In Four\nSeasons<\/em>, we did not touch upon politics, but for others who would do more\npolitical topics, it was possible to go to prison. Our show was based on\nimprovisations with four actors asking questions about how we communicate with\neach other and why there is constant misunderstanding between us. The world is\nbecoming very fast, but we\u2019re not used to it. We say things and go into extremes,\nbut, in fact, we say nothing: we are shallow. We had scenes with no talking,\njust texting, using emoji or just one word for different contexts. We played Four\nSeasons<\/em> several times, first in 2017 and then in 2018, and then Goethe\nInstitute chose it for the opening of their festival, Shubak el fann.<\/em>\nBut it was a little sad for me, as I already left for France in January 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play Mahmoud &\nNini<\/em> is about miscommunication as well. It seems that this topic haunts\nyou. Let\u2019s talk about how it came to life. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our director, Henri\nJules Julien, worked in Egypt as a producer. He saw me in the play Last\nSupper<\/em> that was also presented in Avignon, in 2015. Julien said he would\nlike to work with me and invited Virginie Gabriel to collaborate. At the time,\nI had already started working with international artists and directors and\ntraveled to Europe. So, this invitation was very welcome. However, my French\nwas not very advanced, and it was really difficult to communicate with people;\nsomething that we explore in the production, in depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What language did you\nuse in the rehearsals? Was a translator present in the room? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning, we\nused some English, as Julien speaks English very well, and he would act as our\ninterpreter. We started improvising scenes with Virginie, putting on a mask of\nthe character and asking all those offensive and stereotypical questions in\nFrench. Julien would translate them for me into English, I would respond to\nthem in English and, then, he would retranslate my responses to Nini. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video 1<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Video 2<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Henri Jules Julien interviewed at Avignon Festival 2019 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is exactly what\nwe hoped would happen: a sort of awkwardness. The play begins in a very light\nway, with the characters starting to slowly know each other. Word by word,\nhowever, things get offensive or even racist, so the atmosphere grows very\ntense. The idea is that people in the audience could relate to this in some\nway, or at least recognize comments we make on stage as something that they\nwould hear or say on a daily basis. This sensitivity to the racist comments\nvaries from one country to another. In Egypt, for example, there is definitely\nracism, but not everyone can recognize it. Often, people make racist comments,\nbut, to them, these are just innocent jokes everybody makes. In France, racism\nis very strong. When people make these offensive comments, they actually mean\nit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, racism can be\nvery different in many countries, and, whether we like it or not, it exists\neverywhere, even in Canada, the country famous for its tolerance and political\ncorrectness. Sometimes, the comments come from a good place, when people\nsympathise with another person, but, unfortunately, they still come across as\npatronizing and dismissive. I find some of this in Nini\u2019s dialogue, when she\ntalks about the niqab or when she talks about women\u2019s rights. The responses\nthat your character makes are equally problematic. Can you talk more about\nthis? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the\nmajor things that we wanted this play to address: neither of these characters\nis evil. Nini does not want to hurt anyone; she is very curious, but also very\nna\u00efve. She really means well, but she is coming from the privilege of the West,\nso she is the one who feels the right to ask questions. Dramaturgically, Nini\nis the leader of the action, not Mahmoud; he simply responds to her questions.\nThe people who come from places in the world where they are made to feel lesser\n(for example, from the African world) carry this diminishing feeling with them:\nthey have to explain their world, give excuses. Yet, those who question them do\nnot see problems and negativity in their own communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo: From the troupe\u2019s Facebook site<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s interesting is\nthat we never really hear this other. I think that is the point your production\nmakes. We can analyse, criticize, disagree or agree with Nini\u2019s character,\nbecause we know where she is coming from; we recognize the discourse. However,\nwe are at a loss when it comes to your character. Could you talk about this\ndiscrepancy? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes back to the notion of power: Nini is the one mostly asking questions. If Mahmoud starts asking questions about religion in France, he will come across as very offensive. In the previous versions of the text, Mahmoud would ask Nini if she believed in God and how it was possible that she did not. This came across as very extreme, and, in real life, someone like Mahmoud would never dare to start asking French people this sort of questions. At the same time, it was interesting to break this pattern. During the rehearsals, we would take each other\u2019s places and speak about religion, social life, sexuality, from the position of the other, from the place of cultural assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did your\naudiences react to such provocations? Have you presented this work to French-speaking\naudiences only or to immigrants as well? \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play premiered in\nLa-Chaux-de-Fonds, in Switzerland, to a very French-speaking audience. After\nthat, we were in Nimes (FR), Saint Nazaire (FR) and Paris, and now Avignon.\nAbout 90% of our spectators have been French or English speaking, with the odd\n10% of Arabic speaking folks. We went to places where people do not usually go\nto the theatre, we played in schools outside of Paris, for young people of\ndifferent cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It was interesting to hear what\nthey had to say, as we always held talkbacks. The same questions would often\ncome up: Are you really a Muslim? they would ask. Are you really gay? Are you\nreally Arab? Is it like a real story? These students were really interested in\nthe reality behind this fiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, we went to\ndifferent community centres, where people gather to be together with other\nrefugees or seekers of asylum who now live in France waiting for their\ndocuments. Most of them were Arab speakers, and their reactions were always\nvery interesting. In those parts of the show when we spoke about religion or\nmulticulturalism, they would be very involved, but, then, we would talk about\nhomosexuality and they would completely shut down or even leave, because, as Muslims,\nwe do not speak about these issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mahmoud & Nini<\/em> with Mahmoud El Haddad and Virginie Gabriel. Maison Jean Vilar<\/a>, Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sitting at the Maison\nJean Vilar on the hot afternoon of the summer 2019, it was not only I who felt\nstrangely uncomfortable. The audience was predominantly white, middle-aged and\nFrench speaking, much as Avignon\u2019s general festival crowd tends to be. I bet\nthey recognized and identified with lots of prejudices that the characters\nwould articulate. But I think, Mahmoud, this play was as important for you in\nyour personal journey into the West as for us, looking at you from the\nauditorium. How do you see your place in French theatre? Do you have plans for\nthe future? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t really know,\nbut I hope it will be good! I am participating in L\u2019atelier des artistes en exil<\/em>. We did a dance show last year, and\nthis year we\u2019re doing a new play. I\u2019m also working on my own play, which, again,\nwill be about communication, something between dance and theatre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mahmoud & Nini<\/em> with Mahmoud El Haddad and Virginie Gabriel. Maison Jean Vilar<\/a>, Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In Mahmoud &\nNini,<\/em> the characters speak of politics and asylum-seeking procedures in\nFrance, about religion and terrorism, about the Charlie Hebdo incident and even\nbelly dancing. At the end, Nini proposes they switch places\u2015perhaps, it is time\nto look at each other from a different position? Perhaps, it is time to\ndance?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps, Mahmoud\nasks, it is time to stop translating? No, Nini responds, we must continue with\nthe practices of translation. To try to understand each other we must translate\nagain and again, and so they remain in their original spots, facing the\naudience, speaking in Arabic and in French. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mahmoud & Nin<\/em>i with Mahmoud El Haddad and Virginie Gabriel. Maison Jean Vilar<\/a>, Avignon Festival, July 14-22, 2019. Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

NOTE<\/strong>: I would like to express my special gratitude to Moriana Kachmarsky and Aisling Murphy for helping me transcribing the interviews, writing and editing this text.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Endnote<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Mahmoud & Nini<\/em>: Show in Arab and French with French and Arab surtitles.
Text and direction: Henri Jules Julien, with Mahmoud El Haddad, Virginie Gabriel.
Dramaturgy: Youness Anzane, Sophie Bessis.
Translation: Mireille Mikhail, Mahmoud El Haddad, Criss Niangouna.
Production: Haraka Baraka, in co-production with Centre de culture ABC La Chaux-de-Fonds (Suisse), Le Tarmac Sc\u00e8ne internationale francophone (Paris), CCAM Sc\u00e8ne nationale Vandoeuvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy.
With the support of Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Ath\u00e9nor Saint-Nazaire, Drac \u00cele-de-France, Arcadi, Ville de La Chaux-de-Fonds, Institut fran\u00e7ais d’\u00c9gypte, and in partnership with France M\u00e9dias Monde.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Bibliography<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

El Haddad, Mahmood. Personal interview. 18 July 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guilloux, Marion. \u201cMahmoud\n& Nini.<\/em> Interview with Henri Jules Julien.\u201d Program notes. July 2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julien, Henri Jules. Personal interview. 19 July 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud & Nini<\/em>. 2019. Unpublished script. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\"\"
 \n\n\n\n

*<\/a>Yana Meerzon<\/strong> is Professor atthe University of Ottawa. She has published on theatre of exile and migration, cultural and interdisciplinary studies. Her books include A Path of the Character: Michael Chekhov’s Inspired Acting and Theatre Semiotics<\/em> (2005) and Performing Exile \u2013 Performing Self: Drama, Theatre, Film<\/em> (Palgrave 2012). She has also co-edited several book collections and special issues of journals on these topics. As of this issue of Critical Stages<\/em>, Yana is the editor of the journal\u2019s \u201cEssay Section\u201d (www.critical-stages.org<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2019 Yana Meerzon
Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays","tag-essay-front"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image5-7.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/introductory-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":240,"position":0},"title":"Introductory Words","author":"Yana Meerzon","date":"November 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Yana Meerzon* Dear reader, I am happy to present the December 2019 \u201cESSAY SECTION\u201d (# 20) of the journal Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques. This section is dedicated to urgent issues related to theater and performance making, ways of thinking and writing about theatre and performing arts, ways of viewing and reflecting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Meerzon.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":202,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/on-dramaturgy-of-care-and-encounter-in-the-theatres-of-multilingualism-interview-with-ayham-majid-agha\/","url_meta":{"origin":240,"position":1},"title":"On Dramaturgy of Care and Encounter in the Theatres of Multilingualism: Interview with Ayham Majid Agha","author":"Yana Meerzon","date":"October 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Yana Meerzon* Abstract This dialogue between a Syrian theatre director, Ayham Majid Agha, who is currently residing in Berlin, and a theatre scholar, Yana Meerzon, focuses on the challenges and advantages of working in the multilingual performance context of a cosmopolitan metropolis such as Berlin. The artist discusses the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Ayham-Majid-Agha-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Ayham-Majid-Agha-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Ayham-Majid-Agha-featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Ayham-Majid-Agha-featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":487,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/queer-shakespeare-desire-and-sexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":240,"position":2},"title":"Queer Shakespeare: Desire and Sexuality","author":"Yana Meerzon","date":"November 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Edited by Goran Stanivukovic424 pp. The Arden Shakespeare (Bloomsbury) Reviewed by Sky Gilbert* In his excellent study, Homoerotic Space, Stephen-Guy Bray suggests that consumers of texts\u2014even of the famous classical texts central to Renaissance notions of culture, history and identity\u2014interpret texts as they move through them, according to their own\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/Sky-Gilbert-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":890,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/season-of-discontent-to-seasons-of-love-american-theatre-in-a-time-of-metoo\/","url_meta":{"origin":240,"position":3},"title":"Season of Discontent to \u201cSeasons of Love\u201d: Broadway Musicals in a Time of #MeToo","author":"Yana Meerzon","date":"January 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Jeffrey Eric Jenkins* Abstract In the angry social and political climate pervasive during the 2017-18 theatre season in New York, the rise of the #MeToo movement reawakened a sense that justice was long overdue for those who suffered sexual harassment and worse. Meanwhile, Broadway struggled to present classic (and new)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Conference Papers"","block_context":{"text":"Conference Papers","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/conference-papers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/Picture10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/Picture10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/Picture10.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/01\/Picture10.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":277,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/movement-through-language-a-reflection-on-the-use-of-spoken-text-in-dance-performances\/","url_meta":{"origin":240,"position":4},"title":"Movement through Language: A Reflection on the Use of Spoken Text in Dance Performances","author":"Yana Meerzon","date":"October 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Rosa Lambert* Abstract Today, the Belgian dance scene features many international choreographers whose works explore how spoken text can contribute to the creation of dance. As a consequence, their works reveal the interconnections and affiliations between language and movement. In this essay, Rosa Lambert examines two solo performances by Mette\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":282,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/a-case-study-of-the-intercultural-production-of-vaike-jumalanna-the-little-goddess\/","url_meta":{"origin":240,"position":5},"title":"A Case Study of the Intercultural Production of V\u00e4ike Jumalanna (The Little Goddess)","author":"Yana Meerzon","date":"October 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Izumi Ashizawa* Abstract A devising theatre practitioner, Izumi Ashizawa has been facing the challenges and privileges of creating multi-lingual and intercultural works in different countries for the past 15 years. Each project presented its own unique developmental process, based on the specific\u00a0traits of the local actors, designers and technicians. 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