Theater
The Whore of Canaan
عاهرة كنعان
A multi-media monodrama-dance performance
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An old man leads you through an ancient crumbling city to the last tree standing-- Zaytoun is her name, Olive. She carries the stories of her kin and tells of her kind. Rooted in memories of people and place. Displaced, exploited and whored, yet still bearing seed.
*
Language: English (and/or Arabic)
Written & performed by Lana I. Nasser
Digital art by Bianca Blesching
PR photos by Cees Rullens
Produced by Aat Creations
Premiered @ Fundamental Monodrama Festival, Luxembourg 18.6.2025
اسمها زيتون
أما انا... فلا اسم لي
أزلت يوما ولم يعد لي أثر
مات كل من عرفني ونسي ما قيل
أقف بلا اسم ولا مسمى
أقف عارية
جذع قديم ملتف على نفسه
حاملا الآلام
وحاملا حلما لا مكان له في هذا الواقع المرير
OLIVE
Her name is Zaytoun
But I am nameless
Removed without a trace
All those who once knew me have died
All that was said is forgotten
I stand
Without a name or title
I stand naked
An old tree trunk coiled upon itself
Carrying sorrows -- and a dream that has no place
In the bitter reality of today.
‘The whore of Canaan’ was overwhelming in its complexity yet simplicity, in its depth
and maturity and its generosity. As a festival director, I can only recommend to invite Lana Nasser : your audiences
will thank you !
Steve Karier, Director- Fundamental Monodrama Festival, Luxembourgn
Voice acting
Working from my personal studio in the forest. Recording in Arabic, English and Dutch. Playing characters, activating imagination.
Non-commercial: drama/voice acting, documentary, audiobooks.
Recent projects include:
Al-Sit Mufida (Mrs Useful) 80+ year-old Palestinian woman/main role for a children's radio-series:
New Day (ARABIC) https://youmjadeed.com/ar/index.html
Audio book: Ibrah wa kushtbaan, by Fadi Zagmout (pubished by Safahat SOWT)
* Come back for demos and samples .... so many things to do - so little time!
Myth-telling
Photo by @pinarkesenciphotography
- with a twist ... from ancient Mesopotamia to the Levant... Arabic, Roman and Greek... re-interpreting the old with the feminist lens of a shapeshifting (d)jinn.
Inspired by stories from ancient lore, dreams, and the imaginal realms - sometimes scripted, sometimes improvised, often a combination; site specific; embodied or simply as a voice... in English, Arabic and/or Dutch - in sounds/movement and song.
Titles include: The Dance of Isis, Etchings on Stone, Artemis in Jerash, Sheba's Hairy Legs... to whatever the (d)jinn is in the mood for.
Venues: From the Dream Institute in California, to al-Balad theater in Jordan, to Ruigoord in Amsterdam - and beyond.
Watch a section of a dream synthesis for the DreamMappingProject
Workshops & Choreography
5 Workshop photos by Anne Kaere Photography
Advanced Drama and Acting Courses * Acting for Film * Applied Theater Methods * Storytelling and Mask Making * Dance, Dreams & Mythology * Guerrilla filmmaking * Dance of the Serpent
Work done for/with The Royal Film Commission of Jordan, Ruwaad, UNRWA, Al-Balad Theater; The Royal Court/London, GIZ, De Passiespelen-NL, Re-Nature festival & Vurige Tongen - Amsterdam, and more...
Selections from the Archive
Turaab (SAND): Full length solo performance (without words.)
2015 – 2017
About finding one's way home.
Performed at De Garage-Venlo, De Balie-Amsterdam, The United World College & The International Traditions Women’s conference-NM, The Dream Institute of Northern California; Tiatro Medressessi Monodrama festival-Turkey; Luxembourg Monodrama festival.
Dinner for Once (Dutch)
2013-2015
James and Sophie... the butler and the lady of 90 years old. A comedic tragic play about old age, loneliness and love.
A two person performance, co-directed and performed with Cees Rullens, music composition by Nard Reijnders. Thirty runs across Limburg on location and at theaters including De Maaspooort, ECI Fabriek, Schouwberg Heerlen.
In the Lost and Found: Red Suitcase
حقييبة حمراء في غرفة المفقودات
2011-2012
“I was not always a woman, an Arab or a Muslim, there things came with time…”
Bilingual (Arabic & English) full length monodrama. Winner of the Etel Adnan award for Arab women playwrights (2011).
Performed at Women Playwrights International, Stockholm, Amman International Theatre Festival, Royal Cultural Center Jordan, Aat Festival Celebrating IWD, Jordan (bilingual run), Dancing on the Edge Festival, The Netherlands, Sharp Theatre, New York, NY, Fundamental Monodrama Festival, Luxembourg, Aat & AlBalad Theatre’s International Women’s Day Festival.
Watch trailer here
LIVE! From the Dead Sea (English)
2011
A theatre-photographic project and environmental campaign, in collaboration with theater maker Kristof Persyn, presented at Holland Festival in Jordan, AlBalad Theatre, Amman-Jordan.
Watch mini-documetary (EN) about the production here
أمنا الارض: نبذة عن بعض أعمالي
3armram report (AR) about my work here
Podcasting
I really enjoyed creating audio content ... it's a lot of work, and I'm slowwwww... will I get into it or simply write and perform and do voice acting .... I'm leaning to the latter - for now.
