Sherif Munira

Sherif Mounira (“Boss Mounira”) was developed with Laban Live Lactic Theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, and premièred there in November 2021. Michael created a scenario which the company members approved. Using the “post” system of BoxWhatBox, the story further developed in rehearsal into a modern parable of the central issues of Lebanese life. Mounira Sherif, a grandmother, experiences the 2020 port explosion which took 220 lives in Beirut. The family disagrees about what to do. The daughter is sent to school in Switzerland; the son festers in his anger, resentment and joblessness, Mother and father feel powerless to protect their children. No one pays any heed to Mounira until one day she begins to confront corrupt elements of Lebanese society—a banker, a politician, the media—riding a wooden horse. She persuades her grandson to join her and together they joust with the established powers, and absurd yet inspiring confrontation.