AMMAN – The old city of Amman is shining this week as it witnesses the fifth annual Hakaya (Story) Festival, to the joy of its fans. Organised by Al-Balad Theatre and the Arab Education Forum, and funded by the European Union and other sponsors, the festival allows storytelling lovers to enjoy performances from different countries like Egypt, India, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, Tunisia, Morocco, Ireland and Jordan. Inspired by the rich and tremendous experiences of the Middle East region and the world at large, the festival presents an exceptional array of stories and performances over seven days, ending Monday. The festival kicked off last Tuesday with a Tunisian performance by artist Nawel Eskandarani, inspired by the Tunisian revolution, entitled [email protected]. The performance narrates personal stories of resistance using the spoken word, dance and live music. Egypt is very well presented, with four different Egyptian troupes performing in the festival. Monologue Theatre group presented a performance that has been five years in the making, ‘Bossi' (Look Here), which documents the experiences and personal stories of Egyptian women. The festival will also feature another Egyptian performance, ‘The Ebb and Flow of the Tide', by Tammy Theatre group. Distinguished storytellers from all over the world have been astounding Hakaya audiences with their passion for storytelling. This year, the festival includes Salman Natour and Taher Bakeer from Palestine, Abdul Rahim El Maqori from Morocco, Abdul Razak Kammoun from Tunisia, Praline Gay-Para from Lebanon/France, Jack Lynch from Ireland, Amal Al Saki from Iran, Shadi Atef from Egypt, Ashwat Bhatt from India, Sarah Kassir from Lebanon and the Abu Saleem Brothers from Jordan, telling the story of Al Shater Hassan. The storytelling is not confined to Amman, as audiences have been travelling to remote suburbs of the city and other Jordanian governorates, to listen to the storytellers. The Hakaya Programme is also interested in the transmission of knowledge and expertise to the younger generation, with three workshops for youth and animators facilitated by experienced trainers and storytellers – Praline Gaypara, Ashwat Bhatt and others from the Raneen Institute. Like every year, amateur and seasoned storytellers alike have been sharing their five-minute stories in the ‘marketplace of stories', featuring new talents and providing space for experimentation with a live audience. The festival is collaborating with two innovative collectives/groups who are active in the cultural and artistic scene in Jordan and whose work is relevant to storytelling. The purpose of the first session of ‘Salon-Aat', held during the festival, is to start a debate on Arab and international art works related to women. The debate addresses these works in a workshop entitled ‘Veiled Monologues', organised by Aat and Female Economy Dutch troupe in co-operation with Al-Balad Theatre/Hakaya. The festival is also hosting a joint workshop with Pen Project to encourage young people to take the initiative, write their tales and publish them online. For the first time in Hakaya, the audience has this year had the opportunity to attend a two-hour session with a storyteller, listening to and discussing his/her experience in the field. The audience can meet the storyteller up close, as well as learning how to become a storyteller and to discover this skill that lies within. Hakaya is also about movies and this year two films are being screened and discussed. The first is The Nekbah Archive, produced by researcher Mahmoud Zeidan from Lebanon and directed by filmmaker Diana Allan. The film presents excerpts of lengthy interviews that were recorded with the first generation of Palestinian refugees, who shared experiences that remain unwritten and untold. The second film is The Halqa: the Storytellers' Circle, directed by Thomas Landerberger. It documents the stories that unfold in el Fana Mosque Square in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
