RASHA KHALIL

“I was so influenced by the fist puppet my grandmother did for me when I was a little girl.”

Rasha Khalil (31) is a puppeteer and puppet maker who uses the power of her favourite medium for educational, entertainment and awareness-raising purposes.

Besides being a recreational activities coordinator and KG teacher, Khalil is also affiliated to the Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation (APTF). Her work with the latter often takes her to schools and refugee camps across Lebanon where she performs in Arabic.

Besides having been enchanted by her grandmother’s puppets as a child, Khalil fell for muppets early on:  “As for theatre, I once saw a show with muppets and I felt that this is my field and where I want to be.”

She has taken courses for almost three years in puppet making, theatre drama courses, early childhood education, learning through actions courses

and credits Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation and Mister Abed Abdo for having taught her how to progress as a puppeteer and become a specialist in muppets.

“People, adults and children, like my puppets,” Khalil pointed out. “In most cases I use puppets for education and awareness-rising for children and teenagers and they get my message. Parents support that strongly. Adults are also able to interact with my messages when it comes to rising awareness about Palestine, the camp, the daily life, early marriages, and reproductive health, for example.”

“I do puppet shows for so many issues and most importantly about Palestine,” Khalil who lives in Burj el Barajneh, a large Palestinian camp, south of Beirut, stated, underlining that she hailed from Kwikat in Palestine.

“Among the issues I address are the right to return and the daily life in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. Our messages are for children and adults.”

Khalil is a pioneer, when it comes to being a woman puppeteer based and working in Palestinian camps. “As a woman, I used to be the only woman in the camp who performs puppetry and make a tour inside the camps,” she said.

“I create the script, I make the decorations, I make the puppets, I give roles to each puppet and for the one holding the puppet.”

“People like everything about puppetry, and so many ask me to give workshops and some ask me to invite them whenever I have a show,” Khalil said. “Also some ask me if they could work with me or in the field.”

For the young, dynamic puppeteer, a perfect day means getting on stage and sharing an important message. “It’s about making it possible for people to get influenced and like the message and for my message to get received,” the puppeteer asserted.

Being based in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon is not easy, Khalil readily conceded. “We get no funds, and not all people consider theatre and puppets to be important, that it is useful to transmit a message to them…”

“Theatre in general is life for me, I can express so many things, I improve myself and grow [as a person and artist] and I wish that one day my work and talents will reach everywhere in the world.”

“One day, I dream and wish to make a traditional Palestinian puppet exhibition and tour it in every country of the world.”

Lebanon has a small but vibrant puppetry scene, which is made up of more women than men! This is why we thought that women puppeteers should be celebrated on the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8 March and the up-coming International Puppetry Day on 21 March.
Our sample of 10 women working in the field of puppetry each shared their professional trajectory, gave insight into focus of their work, their passions and views on puppetry in Lebanon.
The women puppeteers provide insight into the medley of traditions and styles that have infused the Lebanese scene, the wide array of contexts and purposes in which puppets are being used, created and performed. Not surprisingly they are a reflection of the magic and versatility of the medium – and Lebanon’s diversity.

Discover Women Puppeteers in Lebanon – A series showcasing several artists

Compiled by Nathalie Rosa Bucher for Les Amis des Marionnettes
March 2017