O-Teatron 2025
Meet The Artists
Noura Murad
Founder of Leish Troupe
Actress, Choreographer, Founder and Artistic Director of Leish Troupe since its foundation in1999.
She graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts - Acting department Damascus, 1995, and then was delegated to France on a practical course dedicated to Physical Theater and its teaching methods whereby she joined parallel courses of Modern Dance and Choreography.
She headed the Dance Department at the High Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus for two years 2013-2015 and taught various subjects in the five departments of the institute until 2018, she also gave a lecture to Master Class students at the Teatro Space in Tunisia 2020
She was a member of the Recommendation Committee of the CEC ArtsLink International Fellowship Program for the year 2021, and a member of the jury of the Philadelphia Festival for University Theater in Jordan for two years 2006-2005, and member of the organizing committee of the first Damascus Contemporary Dance Forum 2009
Since 2001, she has been supervising and organizing Physical Theater workshops in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Dubai. She has also participated in many conferences and Festivals in the region and abroad, the last of which was the Julidans Festival in Amsterdam 2010, and the Contemporary Dance Festival in Beirut 2016.
Oussama Ghanam
Co-Founder of Damascus Theatre Laboratory
Oussama Ghanam is a theatre director, Playwright, dramaturg, and translator. He is the founder and artistic director of Damascus Theatre Lab (DTL) since 2010. He is also a professor at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus since 2005.
As a director, he has directed the following plays: “The Last Tape” – Samuel Beckett in 2009, “It Happened Tomorrow” – Kroetz, Dario Fo, Mark Ravenhill in 2010, “Homecoming” – Harold Pinter in 2013, “Glass”; a free adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ “Glass Menagerie” in 2015 and “Drama”; a free adaptation of Sam Shepard’s “True West” in 2018. In 2019, he was invited for artistic residency by the Tunisian National Theatre and directed George Buchner’s “Woyzeck” with the TNT Troupe.
Since 2011, Oussama has delivered 16 professional, artistic research workshops with topics discussing dramaturgy, acting and performing in modern and contemporary theatre. He translated many plays from English and French into Arabic (Shepard, Bond, Ravenhill, Sarah Kane, Krimp, Joe Penhal, Heiner Muller, Kroetz, Dario Fo, Buchner…) . Recently, he has translated Patrice Pavis’ “Dictionary of Performance and Contemporary Theatre”. Oussama holds a Doctoral degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Paris VIII (Saint – Denis).
Mudar Alhaggi
Co-Founder of Collective Ma'louba
Mudar Alhaggi is a Syrian playwright, dramaturg, and cultural activist based in Berlin. He graduated from
the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus in 2005 and co-founded several theatrical
and cultural initiatives in Syria and Lebanon, most notably the "Kit Kit Kit"project and the
"Futures Stages" workshop.
He has written and directed theatrical and radio plays and has participated as an artist-in-
residence at prominent European institutions such as Delfina Foundation in London and
Schlachthaus Theater in Bern.
In 2017, he founded the organization "Nawras" to support migrant artists, and in the
same year, he co-founded "Collective Ma’louba" at Theater an der Ruhr in Germany,
where he works as a writer, dramaturg, and director.
Ossama Halal
Founder of Koon Theatre Group
Ossama Halal is a theater maker and the founder of Koon Theater Group. His work is driven by a commitment to reaching marginalized and culturally deprived audiences, bringing theater to communities that lack cultural engagement. By stepping beyond traditional theater spaces, he seeks to dissolve barriers between art and society, using his performances to spark conversations on political and social issues.
A graduate of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus, he established Koon Theater in 2002, presenting eight diverse productions that ranged from street theater and site-specific performances to physical and experimental theater. In 2013, he moved to Beirut, where he founded the Koon Theater Studio and Laboratory—a space dedicated to producing theatrical performances and hosting artistic workshops under the Koon Theater Lab program, catering to both amateurs and professionals.
He merges multiple performing arts disciplines and collaborates with independent, multidisciplinary artists from diverse backgrounds. His work delves into ideological, social, and political themes, enriching the creative process and fostering a distinctive artistic dialogue.
