Photo by Jamil Daraghmeh

A mere coincidence made it possible for the three actresses to meet in an international audition that would select the ideal actress for the ideal role; each of these actresses arrives with a dream. But that dream is restricted by barriers on all sides.

One actress chooses to be Cleopatra for the audition. The English-speaking actress, who has a dual identity and carries an American passport, is originally Palestinian and torn between two cultures-on one hand, a western culture that allows her to live, to dream, and to give her fantasy a liberal space; and on the other hand, the ever-present taboos of her Arabic culture and traditions that cannot be broken. She falls in love with a man from another religious tradition. Their different religious backgrounds make her love story impossible to be fulfilled.

She was forced by her family to return to her native soil to marry a Palestinian Muslim man whose desire is directed more toward her American passport than toward her as his future wife. This passport can offer him a better standard of living and better opportunities, while at the same time, it limits her life and dreams, as she is imprisoned within an unbreakable cultural frame.

Cleopatra describes her perception of the ideal death that assimilates her femininity and her magnificent glory as a queen. She artistically presents the last moments of her life in a monologue and a physical gesture suggestive of a snake crawling on her arm and scarring her breast-the ideal death that immortalizes her as a unique queen.

The other actress chooses to be Ophelia-the romantic, French-speaking actress, a young female full of softness and femininity, who dreams of the absolute love that transcends all barriers. Yet, reality shocks her to the extreme. Therefore, she decides to rebel against the barriers that surround her.

Her rebellion is a spiritual outlet to infinity. Ophelia questions “possible love” and “impossible love” and pursues an idealistic belief in “absolute love.” Her confrontation with her unfulfilled love pushes her to commit suicide by drowning in the river. The scene embodies her ideal death, as her body becomes her only means of sacrifice to reach the ideal love.

The last woman, an Arabic-speaking actress, chooses to be Antigone. She is the sister of a martyr, thus her source of agony and pain derives from her realization that the loss of her brother can never be compensated. She realizes that being a woman in a patriarchal society makes it impossible for her to fulfil her career dreams, especially when it comes to being a stage actress.

Her father despises her feminine identity and wishes he had a boy instead. She presents her life as a trap; nevertheless she wants to challenge it and to fulfil her dream. She describes her ideal death without articulating it in words, in a very impressive scene, as a symbol of pride and challenge parallel to the challenge of the actress on the stage.

The three actresses meet at the theatre platform despite their different socio-linguistic backgrounds-three actresses with three different conflicts symbolized by three wooden frames on stage. They all meet with the same desire: resistance. Their rebellion begins by breaking the frames on stage. The three actresses reveal their personal struggles and conflicts, but they realize that the audition they came to is not consistent with their value of idealism.

They are shocked when they realize that only superficial physical qualities would be taken into consideration at the audition. The most-valued “quality” was sex appeal. The mere idea that this could be called a professional audition was in contradiction to their moral beliefs and ambitions.

The three actresses are unique in their abilities to address all feminine souls, rejecting women’s inferiority and discrimination toward women worldwide. The theatre stage is their platform for resistance and change. Although their paths diverge, they all agree to defend the values of pride, challenge, and love. And they all approach the theatre as their means of resistance …

Women under Spotlights: The tale of three women who arrive at the theatre physically framed with barriers and leave with freedom and liberty of soul.

The roles were played by Bayan Shbib as Cleopatra, Faten Khoury as Antigone, and Maysa Falha as Ophelia. The play was directed by Iman Aoun, who attracted the attention of the audience through various theatrical techniques, monologue, and historical characterization with a deep insight into experimental exploration of women’s identity crossing borders of place and time. And finally, the lighting design by Atallah Tarazi was magnificent throughout the play.

Sonia Khader Kashou is the public relations officer at Ashtar Theatre and a theatre enthusiast.