Hamza
Russeifa, Jordan
During Hamza’s very first rehearsal for a Seenaryo Showbuild, when he was nine years old, he introduced himself as Hamza Hummus in a name game. The name stuck – he’s still known as Hamza Hummus to this day – and so did the experience.
It was my first time ever participating in anything like this. It has left a lasting mark on my life.
At the end of the week, he stood on stage for the first time, playing a funny dolphin. He reflects, “When I first started, I wasn’t social at all and I preferred to be alone… But in theatre you have to stand on stage and express yourself, so I’ve learned how to talk about myself now.”
Over the six years since, Hamza has played many roles: a thief rapping his own lyrics in a play about the sun, a father hiding his cancer from his children, and a neighbour bursting onstage in a bathrobe, to the audience’s delight.
Now in his late teens, Hamza has gone from participant to facilitator. Some children doubted him at first, thinking he was too young to lead them, but he has won them over and is about to facilitate his first full play.
“In Russeifa, there is little support for people interested in theatre, but Seenaryo broke down that barrier for us and offered us a creative space. We now have somewhere where we can release everything that is inside of us.”
