JULY 24, 25, 26 2019
New York City, 1923. An ageing Gibran narrates from his cold studio. Through poetry and music, he transports us back two decades and across continents, to turn-of-thecentury Beirut. His eighteen-year-old self-returns to The Middle East after five years in America, to complete his studies and discover more of his heritage. He falls deeply in love with Selma, the daughter of family friend and respected businessman, Farris Karamy. However, Selma soon becomes betrothed to Mansour Bey Galib, nephew of the powerful Bishop Bulos Galib, who has one eye on the Karamy’s fortune. Gibran and Selma fight to reconcile their love for one another, whilst navigating the traditions and expectations that society lays before them.
Following a sellout run in London, and reuniting the original West End cast and creative team, this moving musical now brings Gibran’s story home to Lebanon. Broken Wings is written by Nadim Naaman and Dana Al Fardan, directed by Bronagh Lagan and produced by Ali Matar, with orchestrations by Joe Davison. What inspired the acclaimed author of The Prophet to write? What moved him to such profound philosophy in his later life? The events of Broken Wings highlight key issues of the time, yet the themes and debates raised remain increasingly relevant today, over a century later; the fight for gender equality, the freedom to love who we love, tradition versus modernity, wealth versus happiness, immigration and the importance of ‘home’.
Nadim Naaman
British-Lebanese Nadim Naaman was raised in London. He studied Theatre at The University of Warwick, before training in Musical Theatre at The Royal Academy of Music. He has performed extensively both in the UK and internationally, and is best known for playing Raoul in Cameron Macintosh’s West End production of The Phantom of The Opera. Other shows include On The Town, Sweeney Todd, The Sound of Music, Titanic, Chess and The Last Five Years. As a Concert Soloist, Nadim has performed with some of the world’s leading orchestras in venues such as London’s Royal Albert Hall, The Southbank Centre, Gothenburg Concert Hall, The Amsterdam Concergebouw, Oslo Concert Hall, The Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Dublin’s National Concert Hall.
Dana Al Fardan
Dana is one of The Middle East’s leading contemporary female composers. Drawing on her cultural heritage, and influenced by a love of world music, her work is Arabinfluenced and contemporary-classical in style. A live performance of her album Sandstorm sold out London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2017, and she recently
composed the score for feature film The Necromancer. Appointed the official composer of Qatar Airways, Dana’s music welcomes millions of passengers on board upon departure and arrival. Through her support of music education programmes, nurturing creative talents of the next generation, she actively contributes to the development of the arts in The Middle East. She was voted Grazia Arabia’s Woman Of The Year in 2017.