Lebanese-Canadian writer and actor Wajdi Mouawad was hosting the world premiere of his latest play “Wedding Day at the Cromagnons” at the Monnot Theater in Beirut, however the play was cancelled after activists lodged a complaint against Mouawad with the Military Prosecutor’s Office. In addition to that, actors taking part in the play were harassed and received serious threats.
The reason behind the complaint is that Mouawad engaged in “normalization with Israel”, which I assume is because of his 2019 play “Birds of a Kind” about an Israeli-German scientist who falls in love with an American Muslim woman. If that’s so, it’s quite ironic as Wajdi faced a boycott campaign back then from a group of Jewish students accusing him of anti-semitism.
Censorship is thriving more than ever in Lebanon unfortunately, and Wajdi’s play is the latest victim. All the hard work put by Wajdi, the theater, the actors, technicians and artists involved in the production, went to vain and for what? Narrow-minded people who cannot distinguish between art expression and politics.
Shame.
