‘Counterbass’ Warns against Man’s Isolation, Estrangement

The Lebanese play The Counterbass was recently performed on the stage of al Qabbani Theatre in Damascus. The play based on a text by a German playwright and adapted it to local environment by director Pulin Haddad, according to the daily Syria Times. 

The star of the one-character performance is Jihad al Andari, who graduated from the Lebanese University in 1990 with a diploma in acting and theatrical direction. He also gained a diploma in Lebanese dancing from Lebanon and from the Opera Institute in Paris.  

Andari has participated in several theatrical activities, the most important of which, were his cooperation with Lebanese theatre director Nidal al Ashqar in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Lattakia and Paris. He has won a number of prizes, including the prize of the arbitration committee of the Jordanian Theatre Festival held in Amman in 2001.  

The play revolves around one character the counterbass player, who feels marginalized in a huge orchestra. The play depends mainly on soliloquies in order to unveil the contradictions of contemporary life, especially the social and political sides of life as well as the impact of difficult circumstances on people, in particularly, isolation and estrangement. The play draws the character of a man who lives internal and external conflicts. However, the human soul refuses to surrender and tries to prove itself amid storms and difficult circumstances.  

The only vent for the hero of the play was his musical instrument to which he used to talk about his suffering and problems casting light on the negative aspects of the modern society.  

The play entices audience to seek a better life with a call for strong friendship to be established among people in order to help alleviate pain and problems. It also warned against the increasing number of suicides being committed in the western society. The warnings came through references to the suicides of some writers and artists such as Dalida, Hemingway and Mikoveskey – Albawaba.com