In partnership with Goethe-Institut Irland and The Collective
Running time is 55mins
In his documentary play, It was Paradise, Unfortunately, Jordanian playwright Raphaël Khouri travels to Greece in a three-year search for the ancient roots of theatre and the mystery of Dionysos. In this specially condensed presentation of the original production, Raphaël Khouri tells intertwining stories: his own as a trans Arab playwright, and his investigation into the cultural significance and multiple interpretations of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and theatre.
Presented by Raphaël Amahl Khouri and Greek visual artist, Myrto Stampoulou.
Original commission by Outburst Arts, Belfast, with support from The Collective for the research and development of this performance.
Raphaël Amahl Khouri is a transgender Jordanian documentary playwright and theatremaker, living between Berlin and Athens. He performed the full production of It Was Paradise, Unfortunately at Dublin Fringe Festival 2024, as well as Outburst Queer Arts Festival, with Greek visual artist Myrto Stampoulou.
He is the author of several plays, including the first-ever transgender Arab play, She He Me (Kosmos Theatre, Vienna 2019), also recently performed online as part of NYC’s Criminal Queerness Festival; ICH BRAUCHE MEINE RUHE / I Need My Rest (Politik im Freien Theater Festival, Munich 2018) and No Matter Where I Go (Beirut 2014).
Raphaël is also part of Climate Change Theater Action, was a selected playwright at the Arcola Global Queer Plays (London 2018) and the Lark hotINK international play reading series (NYC, 2015). He was a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab (NYC, 2013), and recipient of a Rosenthal Emerging Voices fellowship for poetry from PEN USA (Los Angeles, 2007).
His work has been published in International Queer Drama Anthology (Neofelis Verlag, 2020); Anthology of Trans Plays (Methuen, 2021); Global Queer Plays (Oberon Books 2018); Skrivena Ljubav (Samizdat 2018) and International Perspectives on Where Performance Leads (Queer Anthology, Palgrave, 2016).
Myrto Stampoulou is a visual artist and set designer based in Athens, Greece. Her work encompasses drawing, painting, video, and installation, delving into themes of identity, power structures, closed systems, resistance, and the uncanny. Recent theater projects include set design for Memorandum by Václav Havel, directed by Aikaterini Papageorgiou (Mpellos Theater, 2024); set and costume design, along with performance, for the full production of It Was Paradise, Unfortunately by Raphaël Khouri, directed by Jocelyn Clarke and Aisling Ormonde (Dublin Fringe Festival and Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Belfast, 2024); set and costume design for Iphigenia-Prey by Vivian Stergiou directed by Aikaterini Papageorgiou at the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus (2024).
In addition to her practice as a visual artist, Stampoulou has co-curated exhibitions and festivals, such as the exhibition, workshop, and talk series Passport Please during the six-month residency at Cheapart Athens, and the Queer Festivals (4 Days Stand) at Embros Theater. Her artwork has been exhibited both in Greece and internationally. Her solo exhibitions include The Gruen Effect at Zoumboulakis Gallery (Athens, 2020) and Where Is My Shadow, commissioned by Market Gallery for the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art (2010).
