When I Saw the Sea

In Lebanon and many other Arab countries, migrant workers must submit to the binding laws of the kafala system, an exploitative and often abusive legal method of binding immigrants’ lives to the whims of their individual employers. When I Saw the Sea opens the doors to the nightmares of this system and to some of their untold stories. Over the years, hundreds of migrant workers have died in Lebanon due to suicide, domestic violence, being abandoned under the bombs during the war, as well as from abuse linked to this oppressive system and its accompanying racial discrimination within Lebanese society. These tragedies become even more pronounced during times of crisis, when the most marginalized are often abandoned on the streets: homeless, unpaid and without identification. Even so, some of the women who have survived these harrowing experiences have chosen to remain and become activists against the legal system that has suppressed them. This performance brings together activists Rania, Zena, and Tenei to explore the struggles, resilience and heroism of migrant domestic workers. This theatrical event, richly laced with dance and music from instrumentalist Abed Kobeissy and singer Lynn Adib, addresses themes of injustice and resistance. When I Saw the Sea reflects the daily lives of workers within the context of the country’s recent economic collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port explosion, ongoing war and mass displacement. This work, inspired by real events, seeks to redefine the concept of heroism. Zena, Tenei, and Rania take the stage, dancing not only their own real stories but also those of many others who stand at the intersection of a burning land and the Mediterranean Sea. When I Saw the Sea is performed in Arabic and Amharic with English surtitles.