“I Am Not A Vase” is a theatrical play about the strength and courage of women and a celebration of women who refuse to be seen as vases, simple decorative elements with no true societal value or contribution.

The play is based on stories shared by Syrian women in the oral history collection 'Syrian Histories' produced by Sharq.Org (and published on www.tarikhi.org)

Watch a recording of the staged play:
https://www.sharq.org/en/i-am-not-a-vase/

Director, Co-writer: Lina Abyad
Co-writer: Madonna Adib
Executive Producer: Reem Maghribi

The play was produced as part of a project that saw Sharq.Org run theatre workshops for Syrian women living in Beirut’s Shatila camp. Several of those women then formed the cast of “I Am Not A Vase” together with two Syrian students of theatre. They met with a Swedish clergywoman in Beirut in the summer of 2018 to discuss patriarchy, gender discrimination and the #MeToo movement and in January 2019 toured Lebanon to put on six performances at different theatres and NGOs in Beirut, Tyre and the Bekaa.

The play was translated into Swedish and a reading was performed in Stockholm in the spring of 2019.

Over 500 people attended the performances, each of which was followed by an engaging discussion about the power and resilience of women and the value and impact of theatre.