Playwright Joan Jan’s experience is one of the most significant in contemporary playwriting. He has written numerous texts for adults and children, and his specialization in writing for the arts has prompted many theater makers to adapt most of his texts into performances both inside and outside Syria. Today, artist Raed Mashraf is using his play “Last Night… First Day” to present it on stage in the coming period. The play recounts stories from real-life married life. * Between Ambition and Love
About the play, writer Joan Jan, 55, says that the play has a contemporary social character and a comedic touch stemming from a series of successive situations faced by the play’s two characters: a doctor in his forties, of average means, almost poverty-stricken, married to a woman who aspires to become a famous television writer. She turns to directors and production company owners who attempt to exploit her femininity, without success. She remains trapped in her dreams, holding her husband responsible for her failure and accusing him of not standing by her in her attempt to prove herself as a writer, as he promised during their engagement.
At the same time, her husband accuses her of neglecting her home and him, while she spends her time chasing directors and production companies. This is not the only reason for their endless disagreements. There are dozens of disagreements that pepper the play’s dialogue between the two parties with whom the play begins.
Jan adds that the show begins just as they are about to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, and a series of endless arguments begin between them over simple and obvious matters. Together, they form a cumulative series that leads them to the conclusion that it is best for both of them to separate. They decide to divorce the day after their wedding anniversary, but the play’s dialogue reveals a deep love between them, despite the hatred and loathing they display for each other. The show is performed by Ahed Deeb and Raed Musharraf and produced by the Directorate of Theaters and Music.
*The Struggle of Simple Things
Artist Raed Musharraf summarizes the show’s premise as a story between a couple whose lives are threatened by the idea of separation. The ongoing struggle between them over simple matters, over control of the other, or the sense that each of them has lost their professional dreams as a result of marriage, despite the love that unites them. While the theme is repetitive, it emphasizes the triumph of the bond of love, which postpones any other paths.
Musharraf emphasizes that the show is a call to preserve the institution of marriage and the necessity of investing in love, resorting to it in difficult moments, and uniting to face life’s difficulties.
Joan Jan is a graduate of the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts. He has published several books and is currently the editor-in-chief of Theatrical Life magazine.
By Maysoun Shabani, Alhurriyah