Das Banū Hilāl Epos - Bashar Murkus, Khulood Basel / Kashabi Theatre - Vienna Festival 2026

Khashabi Theatre is all about strong imagery and sensuous theatre. Their most recent play is based on the Arab Banū Hilāl Epic. Passed down by oral storytelling, it tells the tale of eleventh century Abu Zayd al-Hilali, who started out as a refugee child and became the most legendary Arab leader. Some say it takes up to 150 hours to recount the entire epic; it was placed on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2008. The Palestinian, Haifa-based Khashabi Theatre uses breathtaking images to approach the Arab epic from a haunting contemporary perspective. Like their earlier works, this production is the result of extensive research and collaboration with artists from a range of disciplines: theatre being reinvented as performance brimming with music and lyricism! Theatre-makers Bashar Murkus and Khulood Basel place celebration at centre stage, celebrating the power of creating worlds by narration together with the audience.

Recommended for ages 14+

Language: Arabic with German and English surtitles
Duration: 3 hours, incl. 1 intermission