Maya Zbib
Personal information
Maya Zbib
Performer, Theater Director, Writer
Contact information (Work)
Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association
Community/Lebanon Impact
After 12 years of working with Zoukak Theatre Company; creating theater collectively, promoting culture, and diversifying our psychosocial interventions, I am certain more than ever that our work is necessary and vital. Everyday we see the seeds we planted blossoming into small initiatives led by emerging artists who have taken part in our programs. Every year we are surprised by how many misconceptions about our region are broken through the presentation of our work internationally. Our festival and our studio have become breathing spaces for artists and audiences. Theatre allows us to be together differently, with pleasure, with intelligence and without prejudice; in a context that is scarred with multiple histories of conflicts, this is more than essential.
Work history
Previous Professions:
- Part-time instructor, Communication Arts Department, Lebanese International University (LIU).
- Part-time instructor of Acting Technique, Physical Expression and Dance, Institute of Fine Arts, Lebanese University, 2008-2010.
Major Achievements
Productions and works:
- Present Ruinous Gods (co-director / co-dramaturg), an opera by Layal Chaker and Lisa Schleslinger, to premiere at Spoleto Festival, Charleston in 2024.
- 2024 Pinocchio (actor trainer, devising coach), Zoukak Theatre, Beirut.
- 2022/23 Anatomy Titus: A Shakespeare Commentary by Heiner Müller, Krefeld and Monchengladbach City Theaters, Germany; Shakespeare Festival Neuss, Germany.
- 2022 The Rave Empire (co-writer/performer), La Comédie de Reims, Reims / Ibsen Teater, Skien / Zoukak Theatre, Beirut.
- 2021 The Sun Sets Eight Times a Day (co-creator), a 10-day online performance in collaboration with various international artists.
- 2019 In My Heart’s Eye: The Love Project (director/co-writer/performer), Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds – La Mama Spoleto Open, Spoleto; Zoukak Studio Beirut.
- 2019 Ghalia’s Miles (writer/performer), play reading at The Royal Court Theatre, London as part of “Told from the Inside”, and Edinburgh International Festival, as part of “Spirit of '47” / performance at Hamburg Schauspielhaus, Hamburg / TAK Theatre, Berlin / Zoukak Studio, Beirut; / Théâtre des 13 Vents, CDN, Montpellier / La Comédie de Reims, Reims; Reading as part of Barcelona Calling Beirut, Barcelona.
- 2017 Listening to Walls Wear Off Their Colour (co-director/writer/performer) MASSMoCA, Massachusetts, and soon within the Rolex Arts weekend, Athens.
- 2017 The Jokers (co-writer/performer), Festival of the Arts (FAB), Bordeaux / Zoukak Studio Beirut.
Exhibitions, lectures & performances:
- Two Heads and a Hand (co-director/co-writer/performer), Al Madina Theater, Beirut / Zicco House Beirut / Zoukak Studio, Beirut / Theatre des 13 Vents, CDN Montpellier, 2016.
- Re-enactment (co-director), Williams College, Massachusetts, USA, 2016.
- In Walking Distance (co-director), Cynthia Woods Mitchell Centre for the Arts, University of Houston, as part of CounterCurrent Festival, USA, 2015.
- He Who Saw Everything (co-director/co-writer/performer), The Battersea Arts Centre, London as part of LIFT festival / Monnot Theater, Beirut / International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFOK) / Cairo International Festival of Contemporary and Experimental Theatre, 2015.
- Death Comes Through the Eyes (co-director/co-writer/performer), Monnot Theater, Beirut / ITFOK, Kerala / Ubumunto Festival, Kigali / Kunsthall, Stavanger / “Les Scènes du Jura”, Jura / Santiago A Mil Festival, Santiago; Schwindelfrei Festival, Mannheim, 2014.
- Organs Tissues and Candy Games (director) (Based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), New York University, Abu Dhabi, The Performing Arts Center, Saadiyat Island, UAE, 2014.
- Heavens (co-writer/performer), performed across Lebanon / ITFOK, Kerala, 2014.
- A Memory For Forgetfulness (director/co-editor) (Adaption of the book by Mahmoud Darwish) Krefeld and Monchengladbach City Theaters, Germany, 2013.
- Silk Thread (director/co-writer/performer), Zicco House, Beirut / “Voicing Resistance Festival” Ballhaus Theater, Berlin /MUCEM, Marseille Capital of Culture 2013 / ITFOK, Kerala / Zoukak Studio, Beirut, 2012.
- The Music Box (director/writer/performer), performed in several houses in Lebanon / Hakaya Festival, Amman / Avignon Festival Off as part of Tamam Platform / the New York Public Library as part of the Rolex Arts Weekend, New York / Carthage Theatre Festival, Tunis / Fundamental Monodrama Festival, Luxembourg / Collectif Au Quai space, Brussels / Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 2008.
Accomplishments
Certificates:
- 2011 International Ibsen Scholarship grant for Zoukak, Skien, Norway.
- 2009 Cultural Leadership International Programme Grant from the British Counil.
- 2006 Karim Rida Said/Chevening full Scholarship covering MA studies in the UK.
Distinctions:
- Honored within Cairo's 27th International Festival for Experimental Theatre.
- Selected to represent the Arab region, as message author for World Theatre Day by the International Theatre Institute, UNESCO.
- 2010 Selected as the Protégée of theatre, opera and festival director Peter Sellars, as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Awards:
- 2023 Special Recognition from the Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award.
- Zoukak Theatre Company was awarded the Ellen Stewart International Award, 2018.
- Zoukak Theatre Company won the Chirac Foundation Award of Culture for Peace, 2017.
- Zoukak Theatre Company received the preamium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists from the Japan Arts Association , 2017.
- Zoukak Theatre Company received the Euromed dialogue award (for Social Resilience and Creativity), launched by the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Fondazione Mediterraneo, 2014.
- Awarded the Chevening / Karim Rida Said Joint scholarship to pursue a master's degree in Performance Making in London, 2007-2008.
- Zoukak Theatre Company won the International Ibsen Scholarship grant, Skien, Norway, 2011.
- Awarded the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, 2010-2011.
- Awarded the Cultural Leadership International Grant, 2008-2009.
- Awarded the Chevening / Karim Rida Said Joint scholarship to pursue a master's degree in Performance Making in London, 2007-2008.
- 2014 & 2020 Finalist in the Gilder/Coigner International Theatre Award, New York.
- 2010 International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA) Fellowship Award.
Competences & Skills
Field(s) of Expertise:
- Theatre / Performance
- Education
- Drama Therapy
- Cultural Management
Languages:
- Arabic
- English
- French