On the 17^th of September 2018, the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World and The Department of Communication Arts at the Lebanese American University (LAU) hosted a theatre performance entitled “Ta’ Sakena” at LAU. Ta’ Sakena is a theatre performance based on the stories of a year-long theatre workshop with 12 female caregivers of children who frequent the Children’s clinic at the Abassia Mental Health Hospital in Cairo. The Arabic-language performance, acted by Abeer Soliman, Mona Soliman, and Mona el Shimi, takes the audience on a journey of a motherhood involved with depression, mental health, and femininity.

The performance was followed by a panel discussion with the following speakers, who discussed mental health and how drama is used in terms of gender issues.

• Ahmad Oueini, associate professor of education at LAU
• Lina Abyad, associate professor of theatre at  LAU
• Lama Daccache, project manager at Catharsis – Lebanese Center for Drama Therapy
• Amr Selim, assistant professor of music at LAU