Avignon 2019: Seeking the Other – Staging the Paroxysms of Orientalism
MAHMOUD & NINI is an unusual show –not only it does not look like your typical proscenium theatre, with elaborate plots and developed characters, colorful costumes and sets; it also reminds one of a lecture hall. Two people –Mahmoud: a Egyptian man, black, homosexual, speaking Arabic; and Nini: a French woman, white, with a shorthair and complex ancestry, speakingFrench–sit next to each other, facing audience. They use direct address to enumerate assumptions about each other and their cultures, all based on biases and stereotypes. It is unclear whether they’re seeking understanding or simply re-enforce what people of different backgrounds think of each other ; whether they want to show our ignorance and how dependent we can be on media discourses, or propose some kind of action or solution to these endless miscommunications that only breed fear and mistrust. …
