Halim Madi(he/they) grew up in Lebanon, moved to France and Toronto for his studies and to London and Sao Paulo for work. Madi has lived in San Francisco for the last 8 years. In the last decade, Madi has published 4 books of poetry and deepened their exploration of the intersection of poetry and technology. During the pandemic, he found solace in responding to scam texts with poetry. The project turned into a published book which he used to fine tune an LLM that replies to scams with his voice.
Jess Semaan(she/they) is a queer Lebanese poet, psychotherapist, group facilitator and speaker. She researches, writes and speaks on subjects of healing from complex trauma, immigration, war and belonging. Her first poetry book Child of the Moon was published by Andrews McMeel and sold over 14,000 copies. Her second book Your Therapist is Depressed Too came out in December 2023. The book chronicles the life of a new psychotherapist during the pandemic, who is witnessing the collapse of her home country from afar.
About this Project
“Border / Line” is a zajal-infused theatrical journey by Halim and Jess, unfolding in three chapters that traverse the landscapes of Lebanese village life, migration, and cultural hybridization. This immersive play intertwines narratives of identity, tradition, and modernity, using a dynamic ribbon as a central motif to represent the fluidity of borders. It challenges and redefines concepts of purity and arrival, wondering about cultural fusion and the evolution of identity as a form of weaving rather than bridging, engaging audiences in an interactive, somatic re-narrativization of migration and Lebanese culture specifically and Arab culture more generally.
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December 5 – 6, 2024 @ 8pm
December 7, 2024 @ 2pm
December 12 – 13, 2024 @ 8pm
December 14, 2024 @ 2pm