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Lebanese play in Arabic, French

ABU DHABI - In a significant initiative for theatre circles in the country, Lebanese play Lucy The Vertical Woman (LTVW) will be staged in Arabic and French on two successive days at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, today and tomorrow at 8pm.

Briefing newsmen yesterday, Dr Habib Gholum Al Attar, from the Ministry of Information and Culture (MIC), said that the ministry commended the French Government's stand in opposing the recent war on Iraq. He added that the upcoming event was an indication of its support to the French perspective as well as its activities in the UAE. Dr Gholum said that art should be made to serve as an instrument to promote world peace, and achieve the much talked about "dialogue among cultures".

Jean-Pierre Villeleger, Cultural Attache at the French Embassy, said that the staging of the play in the capital was a collaborative effort between the MIC, the French Embassy, the Lebanese Embassy, the Alliance Francaise Abu Dhabi, the Sands Hotel Abu Dhabi and the Fonds France Culture.

LTVW, based on the novel by Andree Chedid, was staged in Beirut last year during the meeting of the heads of the 56 Francophone countries, which was held in an Arab country for the first time.

Director Roger Assaf said that the most significant issue of the play was the theme of peace running through it like a fine thread, juxtaposed with the turbulent world we live in at present, and the dialogue or meeting of cultures, particularly the East and West.

The play, adapted by Roger Assaf and his actress wife Hanane Hajj Ali, from Andree Chedid's work, traces the story of a modern woman, who dies under unusual circumstances, and returns from the grave to confront Lucy, the three-million-year-old Australopithecus, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. The problems of the modern woman, and the differences of opinion between herself and Lucy, often characterised by violence, has been presented in a part burlesque-part tragic fashion, trying to throw light on futuristic and enigmatic questions at what is depicted as the verge of the third millennium.

Hannane Hajj Ali said that the play was adapted keeping in mind a real-life of Lebanese woman who was killed in Beirut 20 years ago, and hoped that the play would in being acted serve as an expression of the dialogue between cultures.