As part of Moussem Repertoire, the director Ruud Gielens, together with former students at Antwerp Conservatoire, is presenting a play-reading.
On the author The writer Hala Moughanie (Beirut, 1980) has lived in Paris for about fifteen years, and studied literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne. In 2003 she returned to Beirut, where she has since lived and worked. She was awarded 'Le Prix Théâtre RFI' in France for 'Tais-toi et creuse' ('Shut Up and Dig'). For Théâtre de l'Aquarium she wrote the play 'La mer est ma nation' and is currently working on a third play, 'Alma', and her first novel.
On the play A father, a mother and their son are rummaging around near a pit. Each of them finds what he or she is looking for: things to sell, souvenirs or a gaping need. Until two representatives of authority arrive and upset a family balance that was already precarious. From then on, everything becomes a commodity: things, places and people. In 2006 Hala Moughanie witnessed the Lebanese civil war as a child. 'Shut up and Dig' is based on her experience of that period. One of the main motives for writing the play is the lack of a written history of the civil war.