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PHANTOM PAIN
Stories of five fictional women, fundamentally different and unconnected, but sharing the same core: the pain of living on when something essential is taken away. Human trafficking, family separation, suicide, depression and rape are some of the themes explored in this original piece. Based on true events, accounts and testimonies. A reminder of the human stories behind news and statistics, told through poetry, dance and monologues.
Phantom Pain has been awarded the best overseas show for Edinburgh 2021 festival
- ‘A powerful piece! There are many levels displayed through the performance of these powerful stories’ (George Belliveau).
- ‘What a profoundly important piece of work’ (Marvin Westwood).
Lennora Esi is a performing artist, writer and activist from Germany and the US. Born into a family of artists, she starred in her first musical at the age of 11, which sparked her love for performing. Throughout her teenage years, she continued to advance her skills in acting (taking improv and acting classes, performing in various theater and musical productions), vocals (serving as front singer in a number of bands and performing with their family quartet) and writing. She enrolled in acting school in Berlin in 2011 and graduated with honors in Munich in 2014. During her studies she dedicated her free
time to taking dance classes and immersed herself in the styles of Hip Hop, Afro and Modern. After graduating, she focused mainly on creating original artistic content in collaboration with other freelance artists in dance, theater and music in the Munich area. She was part of the dance company “Umoya” as well as the Reggae Band “Kim Azas and Friends” and toured with the actors' collective “Zeitgeist” performing their own Cabaret Show “Two Truths and One Lie”. In 2017 she starred as the Lead in the world premiere of „The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden“ while writing, directing, starring and
producing the play „Schokokinder“, a socio-critical play and short film about racism, homophobia and fat shaming in Germany. Lennora and her husband moved to Vancouver in 2017. She started working as a dance instructor at and performing with the studio DanZa Productions, starred in student films, Indie shorts and small theater productions around the City. In 2019 she had an appearance in the TV show "A Million Little Things" and performed with various artists from “Afro Van Connect” as well as the collective “Her Tribal Roots”. Pursuing her passion for the written word she started the co-blog “Voices
From a Black Kitchen” with her mother in 2018 and the film production company “RangeFilms” with her husband in 2019. The couple moved back to Germany in 2020 where Lennora continues to work as a singer, dancer, actor and writer. Besides art, family and traveling, Human Rights activism is a core component in Lennora's life. Among others she has volunteered with Amnesty International and worked as a stage manager for "Skytheater"s project "My Home is a Suitcase".
Originally from South Kurdistan, Vancouver-based playwright, theatre director, actor, acting coach and writer, Rzgar Hama currently serves as an artistic director for Sky Theatre Group. He started his theatre journey in 1984. Rzgar’s first adaptation and directing project was CANNIBALS in 1987, a play based on true stories of the city of Leningrad during World War II. Rzgar’s works as a director included: SPARTACUS, RESURRECTION of the DOGS, TABLEAU, RAIN, SIYAMEND, SCREAM, THE LAST GAME, and a play based on Arthur Rimbaud’s poems, A SEASON in HELL. Lately, his work as playwright and director was SOLDIERLAND, which performed at the ANNEX in Vancouver, BC from May 18 - 24, 2018 and still in progress for other performances, My Home is a Suitcase, performed the first phase of it at the Granville Island and UBC December 2019 and January 2020, and the final phase of My Home is a Suitcase is in progress and planned to be performed in 2022, Phantom Pain, a virtual performance that has been earned the Best Overseas Show from Derek Awards Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2021.
Rzgar has created works and collaborated with many theatre companies in Vancouver, Montreal, Turkey, Iraq, and Kurdistan. He also ran an acting lab for nine months, focused on improvisational techniques and actor training to help participating actors discover their potential for play development and performance. Rzgar has written and held several seminars and workshops about theatre, performances acting techniques and arts in many places around the world.
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