Geography: Europe > Western Europe > France
Year: 2025
Produced by: Association Root’s Arts, Aurélien Tracol | Co-Producers: La Scène Nationale du Quartz
Creative Team: Director/Playwright/Performer: Wael Kadour (Syria)
Synopsis: Braveheart is a multilingual play, performed in Arabic with French subtitles, that tells the story of two individuals in exile after they immigrate to France. Aline is a Syrian refugee who survived the horrors of Syrian prisons and is now trying to rebuild her life while living in fear of being found by her executioner, who has reportedly also immigrated to Europe. She forms a relationship with her classmate from French lessons: Mohammad, a widower and former Syrian taxi driver. However, as the story progresses, so do their power dynamics, and their relationship gradually starts to mirror – whether in Aline’s mind or in reality – the dynamic she experienced with the officer who abused her. The young woman’s doubts grow about a possible overlap between Mohammad and her abuser. Through this intimate psychological tension, the play extends beyond their personal story to address themes of individual and collective memory, trauma as well as the circulation of violence, while echoing broader questions about the global injustice of events occurring in Syria.
Source: https://www.artcena.fr/magazine/critiques/braveheart-de-wael-kadour-mise-en-scene-mohamad-a