Sarmada is a charming performance of a mixture of musical story telling by Alia a Zougbi took place on 7 November in N.I.A.M.O.S Radical Art & Music Cultural Centre theatre.
Based on a novel by the Syrian novelist Fadi Azzam, the performance took the audience to a place far from the world where a village with a surreal magic lies, where fantasy, potions and soothsayers bring a dark contemporary of Arabian Nights. Three women’s life stories are interwoven as their paths collide across generations, culminating in an epic that feasts on their loves and losses as they push the boundaries of defiance to make sense of their existence.
This event is part of the third annual Celebrating Syria Festival that took place between 2 and 9 November 2019 and included 20 activities in different venues across Manchester. Considered one of the biggest if not the biggest of its kind in Europe, Celebrating Syria Festival aims to reflect the richness and diversity of Syrian heritage and culture.
It is the Syrians narrative about Syria! Where we as Syrians wish to change the narrative from that depicted in the media as one characterised by violence, pain and suffering, into one where Syria is seen as a country that, throughout history, has contributed immeasurably to human civilisation and world culture.
Watch the coverage of this event on Alaraby TV in Arabic:
