INTENSO by Denise Diaz
First performance in Lebanon
Monnot Theatre, Beirut
December 23, 7:30 pm
Directed by Lama El Amine
Intense by Denise Díaz is a two-voice dialogue that explores the conflict between love and survival, between the desire to escape and fear of the world. Betty and Cassandra inhabit a closed, degraded space that becomes a metaphor for a shared existential condition: either to keep going by merely staying upright or to risk change. Cassandra embodies the urgency to leave, to imagine a possible elsewhere; Betty counters with a disillusioned and ironic perspective, exposing the illusions of escape and widening the gaze to a cosmic, nihilistic dimension.
The writing alternates between lyrical and everyday registers, humour and unease, creating a tight, deeply theatrical rhythm. The reference to the “headless chicken” becomes a powerful metaphor for an existence that continues by inertia, without direction or meaning. Intense is a generational text that speaks of precarity, vulnerable bodies, and relationships as the only lifeline in a system perceived as hostile, leaving open the crucial question: is it riskier to stay or to leave?
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Lama El Amine is a Lebanese director, performer, choreographer, teacher, and activist working primarily in theatre and the performing arts. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Movement Directing and Teaching from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
She is currently Arts Director in Lebanon for Seenaryo, where she leads theatre and music programmes and has directed or co-directed several productions, including The Metamorphosis, What’s Far Is Near, I See My Ghost Coming From Afar, and Tilka.
Her artistic practice combines performance, choreography, and physical directing, with a strong commitment to contemporary theatre and social activism. She has worked internationally as a movement director and teacher, leading workshops and teaching physical theatre in Lebanon and abroad.
She has also collaborated with international companies, such as TNT British Theatre Company – participating in the European premiere of My Sister Syria – and has contributed to performances in various cities around the world.