An interview with Maya Zbib on 18 June 2010, before the beginning of her mentoring year with Peter Sellars.
Have you had a mentor before?
I have never been exposed to a real mentor. My advisor on the British Council’s Cultural Leadership International Programme guided me on cultural management and leadership issues, on how to organize myself as an artist. While this helped me personally, it did not directly impact on my art. I recognize that I still need a lot of work to perfect my skills and, therefore, really look forward to my close collaboration with Peter Sellars. This one-to-one relationship will be very different from any interaction I have had before.
What do you hope to gain from the mentorship?
Other than taking the time to reflect on my work and career more deeply, my main goal is to broaden my perspective on theatre-making. Who better is there to help me with this than Peter Sellars? I have never directed a big group or a big project and I expect that my time with Mr Sellars will give me the confidence to move forward and learn new things that I can apply in my work.
Do you envision passing on the knowledge you gain to others?
I definitely intend to convey what I learn to my students at the [the Lebanese University’s] Institute of Fine Arts. We have a very open teaching system where teachers have the freedom to bring in their new experiences into the classroom. Similarly, I will also transmit the knowledge I gain to the members of my theatre company [Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association] and to those attending the many workshops that I frequent, locally and internationally.
Mr Sellars has generously agreed to meet with students and theatre practitioners when he visits Beirut later in the year, so they will also benefit directly from his insights.
You are quoted as saying that you are inspired by Mr Sellars’ advocacy of theatre as a “force for change”. Can you explain that further?
The idea of theatre as a “force for change” is a theory that I closely identify with. When I met Mr Sellars, he discussed his various projects, including a topical new play that he is planning, and how he incorporates societal issues into his theatrical pieces. His goal is to produce theatre that is both artistically and socially relevant, and I strongly support that notion. Theatre must be engaging to all audiences and speak to everyone, not just to a cultivated elite.
What is it like being an aspiring woman director in Lebanon?
There is a great deal of scepticism about women directors in the Middle East, where there is a socially imbedded notion that directors are men. Admittedly, this may be the situation the world over. Lebanon is a relatively small and complex society, so it is not easy to give an overview about the state of women directors without the risk of generalizing, but I am pleased to say that people here have been very supportive to me and to other women directors.
What are your current plans for directing others and how will your mentor help you move forward with this?
Most of my experience to date has been directing my own solo work, but I look forward to directing others. A couple of projects are currently in the planning stage. We are an extremely collaborative group at Zoukak and are constantly experimenting with methodologies and sharing roles. This winter I will start developing, with the group, a new production that I will direct later next year. Peter Sellars intends to come to Beirut and I expect to benefit from his presence and the insights I gain during this mentorship. I anticipate that, while Mr Sellars will be providing some practical tips on directing, our focus will be more on discussing ideas and concepts.
Do you anticipate that the focus of your work will change following the mentoring year?
I am sure that working with Peter Sellars over the next year will influence my work and spur me on to new things. For example, I would like to learn more about opera. I don’t dare think that I would ever direct an opera, but I am interested in operatic staging techniques, the way that performers address the audience. Also, I would like to discuss classical pieces. Mr Sellars’ direction of these works intrigues me, especially his ability to keep the classics deeply connected to the present, highlighting their timeless relevance and creating direct connections with contemporary life through the treatment of the text.
Can you explain the rationale for staging your production The Music Box in people’s homes?
The concept of a magic box as a vessel for story-telling is common in Lebanon and in the region. I borrowed that idea for The Music Box, which takes place in various people’s houses and uses boxes as props to represent memories, secrets and personal spaces. Typically, about 30 people visit a home to attend an intimate performance where music, movement and personal stories reveal the emotional relationship that binds women to their homes. My responsibility as a theatre-maker is to engage the audience and I think I accomplished this with The Music Box. For me every theatrical event is a ceremony, a single precious encounter where stories are shared.
What is your next major project?
I am currently collaborating with my colleagues at Zoukak to create a new production of Hamletmachine [a postmodernist drama by Heiner Müller based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet], which we will present in September. And I am developing ideas for a play to direct in 2011 under the guidance of Mr Sellars. Also, in line with my interest in the classics, I have been thinking about using Medea [an ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides] as the basis of a new work.