Biokhraphia
The title is a composite of three words: bio from the Greek bios, meaning life, plus the Greek word for writing graphia and the Arabic work for shit, khara. Biokhraphia is thus a biography of shit. Indeed, is not autobiography, in the theatre or elsewhere, nothing but lies and/or manipulation? Is identity not somewhat of an illusion or a deception? Who am I? Just what are we talking about when talking about me?
These are the issues raised in playful yet disquieting fashion by the Lebanese artists Lina Saneh and Rabih Mroué. Moving between voice recording and videotape, between fiction and reality and disclosure and secrets, a woman enters into a dialogue with herself, distilling her ego and reinventing herself according to the fancy of her whims. At the same time, she reflects on the status of the artist in her country and on the perverse connections between identity and politics. Double talk and doppelgänger, Biokhraphia plays with the impossible truth of self.
TEXT AND DIRECTION
LINA SANEH
RABIH MROUÉ
(BEIRUT)
SET AND GRAPHIC DESIGN
ALI CHERRI
CAST
LINA SANEH
PRODUCER
ASHKAL ALWAN
BEIRUT
