BACKSTAGE - Performance

Director: Akram Assam
Writer, Actress: Alaa Hussein
Actor: Saad Mohsen
Actress: Shahinder
Scenographer: Ali Sudani

BACKSTAGE is a performance blending theater and film in Akram Assam's signature light-line-concept, incorporating live camera and video. Staged in early October 2024 at Al Rasheed Theater, it featured Alaa Hussein, Saad Mohsen, and Shahinder.

The piece explored migration, role allocation, and divorce without judgment, encouraging audiences to reflect on relationships at individual, collective, and community levels.

It questioned the influence of character, family, society, culture and circumstances on behavior and decisions examining the questions who is to blame and who is or has the right.

Rather than providing answers, the performance concluded with open-ended questions, inviting deeper contemplation.

Quotes from Alaa Hussein’s script:
"Our nature does not change unless we choose to change it… inherent traits can't be altered by circumstances."

"You judge me as if time left no marks on me, yet every event has left a scar, shaping my behavior."