Voices from Lebanon

In June, Seenaryo staged new monologues from Lebanon, live in London. Intimate portraits of love, loss and displacement, they were written as part of a creative writing project with 96 participants who lived through the 2026 war. The monologues aimed to capture what the war actually felt like to live through, beyond the headlines. They were performed by actors Maxine Peake, Juliet Stevenson, Khalid Abdalla, Denise Gough, Ammar Haj Ahmad, Sirine Saba and Necar Zadegan, with a recorded monologue by Oscar-winning Hamnet star Jessie Buckley.

About the project

  • Writing workshops

    The project began during the war with a series of online writing workshops that brought together 96 people from across Lebanon, creating a space for them to reflect on and process their experiences through storytelling. Over five sessions, participants worked with specialist facilitators, developing original monologues rooted in their own lives, emotions and memories.

  • From workshop to stage

    A selection of monologues was chosen to be performed and published. They were chosen to reflect the diversity of experiences across Lebanon during the war. Before stepping onto the stage, each actor met online with the writer whose monologue they were performing, allowing them to hear directly from the writers about the context of their piece.

  • Performing in London

    A sold-out audience in London was invited to bear witness to eight very different experiences of the war in Lebanon, through the monologues. This event was one part of a larger process designed to ensure that people in Lebanon can tell their own stories of the war. We hope to bring a selection of the monologues to audiences in Beirut soon.

Press

  •

    Hyphen

    Voices from Lebanon brings the stories of a nation under fire to the London stage

    By Samira Shackle

  •

    The New Arab

    A Night of Voices from Lebanon

    By Zainab Mehdi & Nadda Osman

  •

    L'Orient Today

    Jessie Buckley, Khalid Abdalla: When stars in London get on stage for Lebanon

    By Maya Ghandour
  •

    L'Orient Le Jour

    Jessie Buckley, Khalid Abdalla…Quand des stars prêtent leurs voix au Liban

    By Maya Ghandour

The monologues

  • Myriam Ali-Ahmad grew up in Beirut and moved to LA in 2020 to study acting. She returned to Lebanon in 2025 and had just settled into life at home when the 2026 war broke out. She spent the war between Beirut and the Keserwan mountains.

  • Collated by Myriam Ali-Ahmad and Lama El Amine through conversations with Mariam Shrim, Rabab Zankari, Israa Hussein, Sawsan Moussa, Ahlam Abdel Razzak, Bisan Salem and Fadia Hamdan. The women all took part in a Seenaryo theatre project in Sour, South Lebanon.

  • Fiona Nasser grew up between Beirut and Kfardounine in South Lebanon. Now based in Beirut, she balances full-time work with improvisational theatre, and she also facilitates devised theatre projects with marginalised communities.

  • Mahasen Mdalleh is from Ghouta, Syria, and was raised in the town of Harran al-Awamid. Following the outbreak of war in 2011, she was detained by the former Syrian regime and sought refuge in Lebanon upon her release. Today, she is a widow and mother of five, living in Marj in Lebanon’s West Bekaa, where she remained throughout the 2026 war.

  • Diana Mohammed was born in Aleppo, Syria, and later settled in Tripoli, Lebanon. Having lived through years of war, bombardment and uncertainty in Aleppo, she developed a deep commitment to writing and preserving human stories. During the 2026 war in Lebanon, she remained in Tripoli, where she continues to write and reflect on the experiences that have shaped her life.

  • Matenneh Sawaneh is from Sierra Leone and has lived in Lebanon since 2020. She first arrived to work as an agency domestic worker and later began working independently, taking on part-time jobs and supporting herself. She currently lives in Nabaa, Bourj Hammoud, alongside other migrant community members.

  • Eman Fisal Almodhi was born in Homs, Syria, and worked as a teacher in Deir ez-Zor before being forced to leave the country during the siege in 2013. Since relocating to Lebanon, she has continued her work in education and the humanitarian sector. She lives in Jeb Jannine in West Bekaa, where she remained throughout the 2026 war.

  • Scholar Obinalli is a Nigerian community leader, writer and founder of Onu’s Community Kitchen. After a difficult migration journey marked by exploitation and hardship under the Lebanese Kafala system, she rebuilt her life with the support of her community and now works to support others facing displacement and vulnerability. Through her initiative, she helps provide meals, essential supplies, vocational training and support to more than 100 migrant and displaced community members.

On sale | Voices from Lebanon

 

You can buy the Voices from Lebanon collection from the Seenaryo shop. The collection includes 16 monologues that were written in spring 2026 by people across Lebanon, chosen to reflect the breadth of experiences of the war. Some writers spent it in displacement shelters, while others remained in their urban apartments and some fled to the mountains. It is bilingual in Arabic and English.

Buy the collection here