Seven Steps to the Water, by Shir Freibach was written in response to Theatre503’s main house production, Donbas, written by Olga Braga.

The RWR process is to invite directors and writers to work on a 10-mins piece during an intensive period of casting, rehearsing, and the final performance.

I was given 3 days to cast the show, to which followed a readthrough and one 3-hour rehearsal in the Theatre503 space to block and rehearse the piece. I additionally worked on the lighting design for the performance.

The character of Hadi was a character that struggled to speak, and working with Hamza on his physical language to compensate for his lack of dialogue was a great challenge. Building an ensemble was my priority to ensure all three characters bounced off each other and allowed for a flow representing their familiarity with one another.

Working on this 3-hander, exploring the effects of war on young people, challenged how I approach settings and grounding a world for actors to feel comfortable in performing outside of their own lived experiences. Research and open conversations allowed this process to flow and collaborate on a story that meant a lot to us a Global Majority artists, but to also respond to the world as it is.

• Writer - Shir Freibach

• Director - Anoushay Dar

CAST

• Aseel - Usmaan Khan

• Sama - Zara Faryal

• Hadi - Hamza Parweez