Nazl El Sourour
Nazl El Sourour is a play written by Ziad AlRahbani in 1974. It depicts the lives of people living in a “poorman’s” hotel and explores their personal issues and those of their country. Two men, recently fired from work, claim to be revolutionaries and raid the hotel because they are tired of living in poverty and wish to make a change. The play ends with the failure of the revolution because the guests convince one of the revolutionaries to marry the hotel owner’s daughter for her money.
This project is a publication is a visual interpretation of the play, bringing together the original script and photography to give the play a new meaning.
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This timeless play has only been documented through audio tapes lending itself to many different visual interpretations. The play could have been written for contemporary audiences because the issues that it addresses are still relevant to Lebanon today. The goal of this project is therefore to show how history has been repeating itself for over 30 years.
It sheds light on how the Lebanese people have been suffering at the hands of a corrupt government and struggling for their basic rights for decades. The idea of the revolution in the play was divided into three parts: poverty, the revolution and failure. Past and present are linked through objects that are referential to the play, elements of daily life and daily routine, to show how the same issues are repeated throughout history.
The publication also contains images of protests and streets to reinforce the idea that the issues presented have been repeating themselves without being solved. The photos of protests and streets taken throughout the duration of the project (2018) are colored to reflect on the inability of change.
