Al Sirah Al Hilaliyahالسيرة الهلاليّة
- Role
- Design Assistant & Stage Manager
- Company
- Khashabi Theatre, Haifa, with partner theatres
- Director
- Bashar Murkus
- Year
- 2026
Played atWorld premiere at CARTA Festival, DE SINGEL, Antwerp, 30 January 2026 · Wiener Festwochen, Vienna · Edinburgh International Festival · Théâtre des 13 vents, Montpellier
Credits
- Text, concept & direction
- Bashar Murkus
- Dramaturgy
- Khulood Basel
- Performers
- Abed Zuabi, Adan Rabos, Atallah Tannous, Maisan Miso Samara, Maya Omaya Keesh, Rana Barasni
- Scenography
- Majdala Khoury
- Composition
- Habib Hanna
- Live music
- Rami Nakhleh
- Music production & arrangements
- Khalil EPI
- Lighting design & technical direction
- Muaz Al Jubeh
- Sound
- Moody Kablawi
- Puppet maker
- Vita Hleihil
- Dabke choreography
- Samaa Wakim
- Design assistant & stage manager
- Nancy Mkaabal
- Production & tour management
- Samera Kadry
- Production
- Khulood Basel, Khashabi Theatre, Haifa
- Coproduction
- DE SINGEL – CARTA Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Cité internationale de la langue française, Théâtre des 13 vents, Espoo Theatre, Teatre Nacional de Catalunya
- International distribution
- La Magnanerie
The Banū Hilāl epic, premiered at the Carta Festival in 2026 and on tour since.
I was design assistant on Al Sirah Al Hilaliyah and its stage manager on tour: from its premiere at the Carta Festival at deSingel in Belgium to the Wiener Festwochen in Vienna, the Edinburgh International Festival and Théâtre des 13 vents in Montpellier.
About the piece
A three-hour musical celebration of the Arab oral epic of the Banu Hilal: the tribe's journey from Najd to Tunisia, and Abu Zayd al-Hilali, exiled as a child for the colour of his skin, who rises from refugee to legend. Finding no Palestinian version of the epic, Bashar Murkus rewrote it from old documents and rare recordings, woven with Palestinian folklore, and seven young performers tell it through song, live music, dabke, shadow play and puppets.
Upcoming dates
10 – 11 Nov 2026
Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
28 – 29 Nov 2026
Teatro Campo Alegre, Porto, Portugal
3 – 4 Dec 2026
Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, Lisbon, Portugal
Where it's played
14 performances in 6 cities
30 – 31 Jan 2026
DE SINGEL, Antwerp, Belgium
CARTA Festival · World premiere
2 performances
25 – 27 May 2026
Theater Akzent, Vienna, Austria
Wiener Festwochen
3 performances
22 – 23 Jun 2026
Spinnbau, Chemnitz, Germany
Theater der Welt · German premiere
2 performances
27 Jun 2026
Cité internationale de la langue française, Villers-Cotterêts, France
1 performance
26 – 29 Aug 2026
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, UK
Edinburgh International Festival · UK premiere
4 performances
8 – 9 Oct 2026
Théâtre des 13 vents, Montpellier, France
2 performances
The production
PhotoKhulood Basel (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9) · Nasser Hashemi (3, 6, 7, 10) · Painting: Bashar Murkus · Photo: Nancy Mkaabal (11)
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