Geography: Europe > Western Europe > Netherlands
Year: 2019
Produced by: Meervaart and Senf with George & Eran Producties and the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Creative Team: Adapted by Sarah Ringoet; directed by Eran Ben-Michaël; Set and lighting design by Kouwenhoven & Kranendonk; Sceneography “Silent Fragments of an Explosion…in the mind” by Kouwenhoven & Kranendonk; performed by Mohammed Azaay; music by the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra.
Synopsis: Jihad van Liefde is based on Mohamed El Bachiri’s response to the death of his wife, Loubna Lafquiri, in the 2016 Brussels metro bombing. Mohammed Azaay performs El Bachiri’s account alongside music from the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. The production examines the position of a Moroccan-Belgian Muslim who is grieving an act of extremist violence while public discourse also treats men resembling him as potential perpetrators. The production exposes the assumptions that make that belonging conditional. Migration is considered through post migration identity. The speaker is already European, but the language surrounding terrorism repeatedly positions him outside the community whose loss he shares.
Source: Meervaart, official production page and full credits: https://meervaart.nl/en/onze-producties-jihad-van-liefde NRC review of the production, hosted by Isala Theater: https://www.isalatheater.nl/cms_files/File/Jihad%20van%20liefde%20-%20recensie%20-%20NRC.pdf WEST ASIA – NA ASIA