Journey of Rida
Adapted & Directed: Mohammad Eid
Director Assistant: Rana Burqan
Scenography: Fairouze Nastas
Light Design: Atallah Tarazi
Adaptation into dialect: Imad Jabarin
Stage Manager &
Technician:
Mohammad Ali
Acted by
Muayyad Odeh
Husam al Azza
Hanin Tarabieh
Emile Andre’
Alaa Abu Gharbieh
Firas Farrah
“Journey of Rida” is an adaptation of a play written by Sa’adallah
Wannous. “The Journey of Handalah”, going from Slumber to Consciousness”
published in 1978.
The play is dealing with the life of a kindhearted Arab citizen
submitting to his fate… An affectionate husband, a non ambitious traditional
employee and the perfect victim of suppression in all its forms. Be political,
social or other. Since all suppressive structures exist firmly even if some are
disguised under good deeds and democracy. Rida is on the verge of losing
everything within these systems.
Journey of Rida is an artistic adventure that establishes a political
and popular theatre, since it enriches the script with a critique dimension
that could not be attained without the esthetic spectacular dimension.
Let’s discover what would come out of the journey of Rida lead by his
new friend in order to discover the reality of this world… would this journey
lead to his maturity or would it maintain his naïveté’?
Details:
Journey of Rida
Rida is a simple, kind hearted poor man who used to live in peace and harmony with his lovely wife in their small cozy house. Reading a zodiacs’ magazine, listening to the radio and watching his wife combing her hair and waxing her legs. These were the things that Rida did almost every day.
One day, without any previous warning, a group of men attacked Rida
while walking in a narrow alley and took him to jail where he spent a long time
without knowing the reasons behind his imprisonment.
After paying almost all of his savings to the policeman to agree
on letting him out; he meets a strange man who calls himself “Harfoush” and who
took him on a journey to discover himself.
Harfoush took Rida to
his wife who he found her in bed with the policeman, so after he left his house
heartbroken and shocked, but still in denial, Harfoush took him for a
professional brain wash at a very famous and talented Doctor.
The Doctor examined his case and opened his mind and washed it
from all the things that used to be stuck in there and after the doctor finished
the operation, Rida found himself laughing continuously without knowing why.
Slowly, Rida started thinking about his life and about what he
used to believe in and how people used and still treating him. Harfoush took
him back to the bank where he used to work, but unfortunately his employer kicked
him out and left him broken.
After he ended jobless, homeless and brainless, Harfoush took Rida
to a sheikh he knows and who can free Rida from the demon that possess him.
After trying his wife,
the banker, the doctor and the Shiekh, Rida went into a trance of awakening and
finally he woke up to know that he was the reason behind all of his misfortune
and hard life and the only way to improve it is to take the wheel and to start by
himself.
