Diary of an Empty Bed by Mokhallad Rasem
A poetic invitation to reflect on the passing of time, on distance and intimacy, on having to say goodbye and start all over again
Mokhallad Rasem has been collecting personal notes for 20 years: he jots down daily images that appear to him in his dreams, or impressions that tumble into his imagination from the world around him.
During the wars in Iraq, but also later during his passage through Germany to Belgium as an asylum seeker and later as a theater maker. They are short and longer texts in Arabic that he now forges together into one long spoken poem.
On stage only an empty bed on a floor of paper and photographs, summary starting point for a story that invites reflection on life and how we look at it.
Diary of an Empty Bed is a poetic invitation to reflect on the passing of time, on distance and intimacy, on having to say goodbye and start all over again.
Mokhallad Rasem: "Do not expect a documentary narrative, a commentary on political situations, but a journey through the metaphors of the Arabic language that is my mother tongue."
"How much does your head weigh with a heavy thought? With a beautiful thought? Sometimes a single word weighs very heavy in your head. Sometimes very many words are very light." - Mokhallad Rasem
In the Press
"Diary of an Empty Bed has enough of that subtle poetry to touch. 'He looks among the rubble of history for something that shines,' Rasem says halfway through, for example. 'He' is the fear that haunts Iraq, but it could just as easily be the playwright himself. With this play, he delivers an intimist gem for a world full of violence." - Gilles Michiels in De Standaard , October 11, 2019
"Diary of an Empty Bed is an intimate, poetic narrative in words, images and sound, personal and universal." - Tuur Devens in Theaterkrant , October 25, 2019
Team
Text, concept, performance, scenography Mokhallad Rasem Dramaturgy Erwin Jans Productie Toneelhuis