© Jean van Lingen

Five Nights

Akram Assam
za 22 okt ’22 17:00
Five days, five stories of migration, war, adventure and hope
za 22 okt ’22
17:00
  • za 22 okt ’22
    17:00
    Theater van Deyssel
    Lodewijk van Deysselstraat 91, 1064 HM Amsterdam

Performance about the effects of war and violence on people, as well as their impact on society. Each day of Five Nights / خمسة ليال explores a new story from 1001 Nights. Although they are bound together, each performance stands alone too, and can be experienced on its own.

Akram has redeveloped the performance Five Nights / خمسة ليال  during his residency at Theater van Deyssel in September and October 2022. In this performance he uses five stories from the famous book 1001 Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern fairytailes, and link them to experiences of his own and other newcomers in Amsterdam. During this residency, he had conversations with locals in Amsterdam about the experience of war and violence, which he added to his performance. Experience the first taste of his research and redeveloped performance!

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About Akram Assam 

Akram Assam studied art in Baghdad and worked for eight years as theatre director at the National Theatre. Being interested in different theatrical aesthetics he studied at the Academie der Künste in Berlin, and moved to Amsterdam for the masters program at DAS Theatre / Academy of Theatre and Dance which he graduated from in 2020. For his work he collects stories and memories, including different perspectives and translating them in a multidisciplinary narrative on war, conflict and migration.

Akram Assam is interested in the effects of war and violence on people, as well as their impact on society. In his work, he collects memories of people who have personally experienced this. Having known war and violence himself, Akram Assam is able to translate their stories into dance, video, light design and performance, to raise awareness among those who live in the ‘safe zones’ - the places on earth without war and violence - of their fortunate position. He wants them to understand what it is like to live in the ‘red zones’: not as presented by the media, but as it is dealt with by people.