At the end of World War I, François Georges Picot and Mark Sykes – respectively a French and a British diplomat – pour over the map of the Middle East. During a secret meeting they redraw the borders of the territory. The consequences are felt until today. In Vanishing State, Lucien Bourjeily has the public repeat the exercise, yet this time with the knowledge of what has happened in the Levant region in the last hundred years.

The internationally renowned Lucien Bourjeily writes for theater and film, and tries, as such, to oppose the omnipresent censorship in Lebanon. In 2013, his stage play Will it pass or not?, which speaks out against censorship, was banned by the Lebanese government, an act which provoked huge public outcry. Bourjeilly was nominated for the Freedom of Expression Award in 2014 at the Barbican Center in London.

The interactive presentation Vanishing State takes successive groups of roughly 30 persons from the audience on a captivating journey.

In English, partly in French

• Text and direction: Lucien Bourjeily
• Drama: Nabil Traboulsi, Saidi and Rami Farah Shaer
• Vanishing State, originally co-commissioned by LIFT, 14 – 18 NOW, WW1 Centenary Arts. A House on Fire project, supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union and the National Lottery through Lottery Fund and Arts Council England; in partnership with the British Council