Theatre

Aza: stories of grief in diaspora

A vulnerable exploration of migrant and diasporic grief through storytelling.

$23.00
Sessions & Tickets View Comments
Charaf is sitting at a wooden dining table. She is wearing a black long sleeve dress with a white headscarf as is typical in her tradition while mourning. Her hands are on the table around a small coffee cup. In the middle of the table, a golden brass tray with a traditional coffee pot. The chair on the side of the table facing her is tucked in, a coffee cup identical to the one in her hands is placed on the table in front of the empty, tucked in seat. In the background, a photograph of her deceased grandmother in a golden frame hanging on a white wall.
Past Event

Image Credit: Thabani Tshuma and Charaf Tartoussi

  • Concept by: Charaf Tartoussi

  • Written and Performed by: Charaf Tartoussi, Farah Beaini, Thabani Tshuma and Parminder Kaur

  • Featuring: Meena Shamaly

Aza (Arabic colloq: wake) is a powerful, nuanced portrait of migrant loss. Spoken word theater meets mourning ritual, it takes us on the grieving journeys of four artists as they grapple with what it means to lose a loved one back home.

Meet Charaf, Parminder, Thabani and Farah. They all live in Naarm, all write poetry and all have had to grieve a family member from a homeland someplace else. Together, they embark on an honest voyage through a grief as ancestral as it is foreign. From longing and guilt, to curiosity and pride, they will venture into the breadth of emotion in their migrant and diasporic mourning.

Aza is where they come together to be witnessed in the diversity in their grief. It is where they come together to heal, and to be healed.

In 50 minutes of vulnerable and sincere storytelling, they will move through the motions of their loss and attempt to answer the question: how does grief change when it is experienced in the immigrant diaspora, and how does it stay the same?

This project received Cash to Create and Cash for Equity through the Fringe Fund, as part of Radical Access.

  • Duration: 50 minutes

  • Event Accessibility: Blind or Low Vision Rating: Partially Accessible

  • Age suitability: PG

  • Event warnings: Mild Coarse Language.

  • Content warnings: Death, Themes Of Grief In Relation To Death..

Click here to view the Access Pack.

  • Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers
    Cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton, VIC, 3053

    Wheelchair Access

    Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers is wheelchair accessible.

    The entrance to the venue is on Lygon St. You can head up the front stairs and through the main doors, from there head right to get to the Loading Dock.
    If you need step free access, there is lift at the front of the building and our team will be able to guide you from there to the Loading Dock.

    Once you're in the Loading Dock you can head straight through to the Victoria Street Building and up the stairs on the right. On the first floor, Old Council Chambers is on to the right, on the eastern side of the hallway.

    Get directions See all events at this venue See detailed venue & access information

  • Full: $23.00

  • Hump Day Discount: $17.25

  • Extra Applause: $30.00

  • Blak Tix: $0.00

  • Concession: $18.00

  • Group 4+: $18.00

  • Member discounts available

    This event is eligible for 25% off full price Fringe Dweller tickets. Just add the tickets that you want then login at checkout and you'll get the cheapest tickets. If you're not a member yet, simply add a membership to your cart and you'll be able to access Fringe Dweller prices straight away.

Sessions: In Person Events

A single $5.50 transaction fee applies to your booking.

Date Time Venue

Wednesday, 18 October 2023

6:00pm

Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers

Sold Out
 Past Event

Thursday, 19 October 2023

6:00pm

Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers

Almost Gone
 Past Event

Friday, 20 October 2023

6:00pm

Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers

Selling Fast
 Past Event

Saturday, 21 October 2023

6:00pm

Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers

Sold Out
 Past Event

Sunday, 22 October 2023

5:00pm

Festival Hub: Trades Hall - Old Council Chambers

 Past Event

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