MUTE – صَــــمْـــــــــــــت

As part of the 16th edition of the Beirut Spring Festival, MUTE – صَــــمْـــــــــــــت for the first time in Lebanon.

MUTE addresses the catastrophic repercussions of the largest non-nuclear explosion in history and the consequences of marginalizing people, society and the environment. The Beirut Port double explosion of 4 August 2020 is a defining moment between two times, as Lebanon before the Beirut Port explosion is not Lebanon after the explosion – in all respects.

Writer and director Sulayman Al-Bassam states that in the face of escalating violence and unprecedented media misinformation, we ask ourselves about the possible forms of artistic resistance, and the definition of the act of artistic resistance today. What would we discover if we abandoned our usual traditional tools (event, narrative, and characters) and specifically imagined an action based on absolute silence as a tool for resistance?

In a way, this performance is an ode of love to the city of Beirut.

At its World Premiere in the frame of the 24th edition of the Carthage Theatre Festival in Tunis 2023, MUTE received 3 out of the 5 official awards that this Festival, the most important theatre rendez-vous in the region, grants:

• “Best Text Award” to Sulayman Al-Bassam
• “Best Actress Award” to Hala Omran
• “Golden Tanit Award for Best Production”

A performance in Arabic with closed captioned / subtitles in English.

Learn more on beirutspringfestival.org

Rules & Regulations

Timing

• Doors close at 8:50 pm.
• The performance starts at 9:00 pm sharp.
• Latecomers will lose their seats to non-ticket holders, and will not be allowed in the performance hall.

Access & Ticketing

• The Beirut Sprint Festival has been using a general admission scheme (also called open seating or free seating) on the basis of first-come, first-served. This means, the first certain number of people in line is admitted in the performance hall, depending on the capacity of each performance venue. As the Festival’s audience grew, the line-ups became uncomfortable.
• To better serve our festival goers, streamline the festival's attendance, and reduce line-ups, we introduce free ticketing via EventBrite exclusively. EventBrite is a website/application that allows you to book tickets for events.
• Each performance will have a dedicated EventBrite page with a limited number of tickets depending on the seating capacity of the performance venue. The EventBrite page will close the moment capacity is reached.
• Upon your reservation, the free tickets will be directly emailed to you. You won't need to print them, as the hostesses can check them directly on your phone. Your data will be processed according to our privacy policy.
• This general admission is ticketed with no assigned seat number. This means seats are not-preassigned on the tickets. Ticket holders are free to chose their seats at their pleasure. To this end, we invite festival goers to be there around 8 pm to secure their preferred seats. All ticket holders are requested to be seated by 8:45 pm. After this time, latecomers will lose their tickets to non-ticket holders.
• Access to the performance hall will be reserved to ticket holders. Non-ticket holders will be asked to wait until 8:45 pm, and will be then let in within the limits of available seats. All ticket holders are requested to be seated by 8:45 pm. After this time, latecomers will lose their tickets to non-ticket holders.
• The performance venue does not accept reservations. It is not possible to reserve a seat or to get a ticket from the performance venue. Please book your free ticket(s) via EventBrite exclusively.
• Please account for transportation delays, whether potential traffic (in the city and around the venue), or parking traffic.