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.
Education
Education:
- Postgraduate Degree, International Cultural Cooperation and Management, 2009-2011, IL3, University of Barcelona, Spain.
- Master's Degree, Arts in Performance Making, 2007-2008, Goldsmiths College, University of London, United Kingdom.
- Bachelor Degree, Arts in Acting, 1999-2003, Lebanese University, Lebanon.
Work history
Previous Professions:
- Actress, Director, and Writer since 2006, Theater troupe and cultural association: Zoukak.
- Professor, Lebanese International University and Faculty of Fine Arts, Lebanese University, 2008-2010.
- Writer, Researcher, Producer, and Presenter, 1997-2006, Zen TV and Future TV.
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:
- "Al-Jawaker" (Acting and Writing Contribution), showcased in Beirut and Bordeaux, France, 2017.
- "Raisin B'el Eid" (Acting, Writing Contribution, and Directing), showcased in Beirut and Montpellier, France, 2017.
- "The Last Painting" (Acting, Writing Contribution, and Directing), showcased in London, 2016.
- "Re-Acting" (Directing Contribution), showcased at Williams College, Massachusetts, USA, 2016.
- "Unusual" (Acting, Writing Contribution, and Directing), showcased in Mannheim, Germany, 2016.
- "Innocent Violence" (Directing Contribution), showcased at the University of Houston, Texas, USA, 2016.
- "Road Distance" (Directing Contribution), showcased at the University of Houston, Texas, USA, 2015.
- "The Battlefield" (Acting, Writing, and Dramaturgy Contribution), showcased in Beirut and Palermo, 2015.
- "He Who Saw" (Acting, Writing Contribution, and Directing), showcased in Beirut, Cairo, and Kerala, India, 2015.
- "I Hate Theater, I Love Porn" (Acting), showcased in Trondheim, Norway; Beirut; and Kerala, India, 2014.
- "Death Comes from the Eyes" (Acting, Writing Contribution, and Directing), showcased in Beirut, Kerala, Kigali, Stavanger, Jora, Santiago, and Mannheim, 2014.
- "Textures, Members, and Scissors" (Directing), showcased at Abu Dhabi University, 2014.
- "Silk Thread" (Directing, Acting, and Writing Contribution), showcased in Beirut, Berlin, Marseille, and Kerala, 2012.
- "Memory for Forgetting" (Directing), showcased in Krefeld and Mönchengladbach, Germany, 2013.
- "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) (Adaptation of the book by Mahmoud Darwish), Krefeld and Mönchengladbach City Theaters, Germany, 2013.
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:
- Selected to work under the supervision of American theater and opera director Peter Sellars as part of the Rolex Arts Initiative, 2010.
- Received a grant from the British Council to participate in the Global Cultural Leadership Program, 2009.
- Awarded the Chevening / Karim Rida Said Scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Performance Arts in London from 2007 to 2008.
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