Zaffé: A Middle Eastern immersive experience

The award-winning Middle Eastern performance Zaffé is coming to the Arts House from November 26 to 30, bringing audiences to the captivating experience of a cultural wedding party with a twist.

“Everything's an invitation. So, when you walk in you are wedding guests,” Zaffé director Stéphanie Ghajar said.

Hosted by young Middle Eastern artists from the diaspora of their homeland, Zaffé explores the idea of loss while also inviting audiences to come together and learn more about each other's stories.

“The main theme is that there is something also missing from this celebration,” Ms Ghajar said. “So, there is a wedding party but there is no wedding couple. The bridal couple is missing.”

More than a conventional Middle Eastern wedding celebration, on display will also be an abandoned building in Beirut, tangled knots of power cables, and battery-operated candles lighting the path along which audiences can move around the performance space.

“Each person has a different experience walking into the room,” Ms Ghajar said.

“There is music, dancing, wedding games and gossip, and joining in online to share their stories and expertise are collaborators from Spain, Damascus and New York,” she said.

“There’s a sense of community that starts developing throughout the show.”

Through the lens of a Middle Eastern wedding party, Zaffé stands as an expression of resilience, with individuals and communities rooting themselves in history, supporting each other, and helping each other heal in the face of what has been lost.

“People have been relating to Zaffé on different levels because it really touches the point of loss. Anyone who's experienced loss on any level can feel this work,” Ms Ghajar said.

“Whether they’ve migrated, like they’ve lost a home [moving] from one place to another; whether they’ve lost a person in their life; whether [they’re] anyone who has lost something really meaningful in their life and they’re trying to hold onto it, they will be able to connect to it,” she said. “It’s an experience, it's not just storytelling from a distance.”

Zaffé opens at the Arts House on November 26 with the show starting at 8:30pm. A post-show artist talk will take place on November 27. •