A stylized poster featuring a bearded man with long hair making an expressive gesture with his hands. The background has decorative elements with the title 'Halim' at the top and 'Al-Hakawati' at the bottom, indicating the theme of improvised stories from Kitab al-Hikayat.

Halim Al-Hakawati

Stories from Kitab Al-Hikayat

Tuesday November 26, 2024 at 20:00 @ Theater De Richel
Amsterdam - Netherlands

Halim Al-Hakawati is an improvised storytelling performance

Cast:
Halim - Raffi Feghali
Kareem - Tony Karam

Directed by: Stephen Kearin

Visual designs: Ely R Noujaim - ern

Photos by didinò.improv

A man with long curly hair and a beard, wearing a white outfit and a colorful patterned cap, sitting on an ornate sofa on a dark stage, holding a remote control.

Before the days of Netflix, TVs or cinema, the hakawatis (storytellers) kept the Arab cities entertained and bewildered! Whether in cafes, town squares, huge castles or normal living rooms, the hakawatis’ voices echoed and their cliffhangers kept people coming back.

Halim comes from a long tradition of hakawatis and tours the world telling stories with his musician Kareem and lights operator Saeed. Tonight he’ll be telling stories from Kitab Al-Hikayat at Mezrab in Amsterdam.
For technical reasons, the role of Saeed was emitted tonight.

A man with long curly hair dressed in a cream-colored shirt, white pants, a brown vest, and brown boots is pointing at something on the floor in a dark room or stage.

BEHOLD! Halim, the Hakawati – a storyteller for the ages! SILENCE! Never mind you have never heard of him… HE is indeed the most famous Hakawati in the world… You’re just going to have to trust him on this!
SADNESS! Halim pities you should you miss this opportunity to witness his telling of tales from the legendary Kitab Al-Hikayat - The Book of Stories!

Attend other shows at your own PERIL!

This show wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of a lot of people. A big thank you to all of them, especially David Pasquesi & Nils Petter Mørland for taking the time to watch the show and share valuable feedback during early stages of the show’s creation, Chrystine Mhanna & John Achkar for their help with the press and media. And last, but definitely not least, many thanks to Stand Out and Theater De Richel for making this possible. This is the first time Halim Al-Hakawati is performed in Arabic in Europe and it wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Thank you for joining us and enjoy the show!

Text saying "STAND OUT" with the number 0 in a red brushstroke style.

Black and white illustration of a person sitting at a desk, working on a computer, with a coffee cup nearby.

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