"Vitrine", a new play for Nehmeh Nehmeh with the amazing actresses Aida Sabra & Julia Kassar ! I had the chance to work on the poster with therefordesign studio.
first, we did the photo-shoot with Elias Moubarak. later, the portraits were edited on photoshop to give the mannequin look. the challenge was to keep the characteristics of the actresses. "Vitrine" in arabic was written using a typeface but modified to give a calligraphy feeling.
the following are the bald characters before adding the hair.
I did a tour today to take photos of the posters on Hamra walls. the following poster was modified by the parking guy i suppose; he turned Aida into a pirate !
I prepared some animations that will be projected during the play.
I m very excited to see the result of the combination between the animation, performance, lighting by Elias Maalouf and music by Cristelle Franca coz i love these guyz!
attending rehearsals was a great source of inspiration.
The play will start this friday 8 january @ 8:30 in al Madina theater. you can see it every thursday, friday, saturday and sunday.
Yalla, go check it and tell me your feedback !!!
Hello David,
ReplyDeleteImpressive work. Is the play in Arabic or in French?
txxx mr or miss anonymous :) Oooo
ReplyDeletethe play is in arabic, i hope this is the answer u r waiting for !
David, the moment i saw the posters in Kantari, i knew it was you! i only had to look to find your name mentioned below.
ReplyDeletegreat job.. this weekend i promised myself i will be watching the play! i will definitely let you know my opinion from behind my computer "vitrine"!
Rawad.
wOw Rawad , Tx !
ReplyDeleteI watched the play for the second time tonight and we did a discussion at the end. i realized how expectations can distract us from a new experience. my advice is to live the rhythm of this play and keep in mind the actresses are 2 mannequins!
enjoy the show and waiting akid for your feedback.
David, hi again,
ReplyDeleteI wish I was in that discussion :)
It took me a week long to find someone to give me company to the play, but none of my friends was willing to, for different reasons.
I managed to watch it yesterday night by myself. To tell you the truth, I had some expectations especially when the artwork is of a high quality and projects a certain level for the play.
It is definitely a different kind of play.
The way Aida & Joulia performed, reminded me of the silent movies of Charlie Chaplin. I loved the combination of light, sound and visuals made for the play. However, the projection of a white dress while Joulia is dreaming of the sea is not consistent from every viewed angle. It is only properly viewed if the person is seated on the right side of the stage or if the projection was 3-D.
I did not know when to laugh or when to stay quite. Was I supposed to interact with the play? This made me concentrate a lot on the meaning of every word said. It is not a “light” play but one that can be understood from each viewer personal point of view.
I have enjoyed both actresses playing their roles as if it is their first time on stage! this gave the play a fresh & very enjoyable aspect.
Unexpectedly, the play ended! I could not believe it. I thought that there is an intermission and afterwards we see the mannequins jumping to the outside world and experiencing their dreams.
I think the intension was to suddenly remove the viewer from this dreamy world created by the play.
Nonetheless, it is indeed a very successful group effort.
Waiting for more!
Rawad.
Rawad ya Rawad, thank you for your detailed feedback !!!
ReplyDeletewell, yes this is not a light play, even if the actresses are playing and having fun on the stage, but this contrast is what makes them mannequins.
concerning the dress, you have to know that the lighting of the play was so hard; all lights were behind the voile and the faces of the actresses should show most of the time. to actress should be closer to the dress so we can see it from everywhere, but it was hard to light the face of Julia if she was that close to the voile. we are trying to combine too different medias where you have live audience, it needs more research but we had the stage for only one week to test the lighting and the projection.
the projection itself was difficult, you have to maintain a good quality over a 10 meters voile. when i saw the projection on stage for the first time, i realized that the scene with big shaped objects is better than the detailed ones. but it was too late :S
yalla, we are trying and trying but it was for sure a beautiful and rich experience !!
i will post the animation of the play soon so you can see the difference.
thank you for your interest :)
My pleasure.
ReplyDeleteDo let me know if there is any other performance in the city worth watching.
Rawad.