Freikeh Festival bears fruit for the first time in three years

[Dry Ice]

Impressive lineup of directors, artists and poets makes festival's return a welcome one

By Megan Bainbridge
Special to The Daily Star
Monday, August 18, 2008



FREIKEH: The public entered the festival grounds along a tree-lined path, its low hanging branches beautifully illuminated against the darkness. To the left, the black silhouette of the Nahr al-Kalb valley stretches beneath you toward the sea. The lights of villages crown the surrounding hilltops and, in the distance, the sprawl of Beirut can be discerned through the trees.

The bucolic settling is disrupted only by the concussions of fireworks echoing through the valley - whether for serial wedding celebrations or some other festivity is difficult to know.

The path leads toward two impressive stone buildings, the remains of a 19th-century silk factory that provides an atmospheric venue for the Freikeh Festival. The annual festival in the Metn village - about a 30-35 minute drive from Beirut, on the small road leading to Beit Chabab, off the Antelias-Bikfaya highway - was founded by Lebanese stage director Mounir Abu Debs in 1999.

Built in the 1830s, the festival venue operated as a silk factory throughout the 19th century. In the 1950s, it was converted into a space for the study of art and became home to one of pre-Civil War Lebanon's few avant-garde theater companies.

Today, one of the former factory buildings houses an art exhibition. Paintings hang among the impressive arched stone columns that dominate the centre of the hall. Well-heeled patrons move among the works, awaiting the start of the performance in the adjoining theater.

Other patrons sit outside, chatting earnestly among themselves in the warm evening air. Some appear content to simply stare out across the valley.

Approximately 60 people have made the trip to Freikeh for the festival's opening event, many of them young artists.

The stage remains in darkness, and as the main yellow lights dim, two chairs become visible on the stage. A woman enters, reading, and Anton Chekhov's "The Bear," the first of the evening's pair of one-act plays begins.

It's impressive lineup of directors, artists and poets makes the return of the Freikeh Festival to Lebanon's cultural calendar a welcome one. Freikeh's was one of Lebanon's several summer cultural festivals disrupted by the events of the past three years.

The month-long event offers audiences theatrical performances, musical recitals, poetry readings and an arts exhibition, featuring both Lebanese and international artists.

Abu Debs sits quietly at the rear of the theater during Thursday evening's performances. The festival founder is a veteran of Lebanon's cultural life, having founded the country's first theater school and been the artistic director of the Baalbek Festival for ten years.

He continues his long-running association with Freikeh this year, directing three theatrical productions. Chekhov's "The Bear" and "The Chairs," by Romanian absurdist Eugene Ionesco are being performed, in Arabic, over four evenings during the course of the festival. In addition, Abu Debs is directing his own play, "The Statue and the Dream."

"The Bear" enacts the story of a young widow who has placed herself in self-imposed isolation. Her fidelity to her husband's memory is confounded when her boorish neighbor drops by to claim a debt owed him by her late husband.

The more lively play, "The Chairs," tells of two characters who are making frantic preparations for invisible guests who they believe are coming to hear an orator reveal his discovery of the meaning of life.

The small, yet impressive, cast of actors - including Sabine Ojeil and Lucien Boujeily - offered the audience two captivating performances. The main frustrations stemmed from the disruptive racket produced by the fireworks outside and the brief electricity outage that plunged the theater into darkness.

During the brief break between performances, the soft-spoken Abu Debs discusses his feelings for the festival.

"I love the actors and their enthusiasm," he says. "I love the place."

He also takes great pleasure in the meaning in the plays themselves and the passion with which the cast engages with them, saying, "We work with enthusiasm with plays we love."In keeping with the dynamic history of its location, the festival aims to present audiences with traditional theatrical texts in a creative fashion. It also endeavors to convey a sense of traditionalism and rituality through its diverse program.

As the festival continues, music lovers will be treated to "Voyage au fil de l'amour," an evening of French opera melodies sung by Soprano Aline Maalouf and accompanied by pianist Sevag Deraghoussian. In a separate event, Mazen Kerbaj will present an evening of his trademark improvised trumpet musical.

Other highlights of the festival include an evening of Zajal poetry, a traditional form of improvised performance poetry, with Lebanese actor Antoine Kerbage. The festival will also see prolific Lebanese poet Nada Ounsi al-Hajj hold a poetry night.

The Freikeh Festival runs until 14 September. For more information call +961 1 494 926.