Beiruting News

Selected from over 200 submissions, Joanna Khalaf’s *Libanaise, de Mère en Fille* is one of only six plays featured in the 2026 Nouvel Acte Festival at Théâtre Le Funambule Montmartre in Paris.

Performances will take place on June 12, 14, and 16, 2026.

The play follows Chloé Le Gall Touma, a Franco-Lebanese woman born in France to a Breton father and a Lebanese mother. After her mother’s death, she leaves her life in France behind and moves to Lebanon and soon confronts a painful truth: Lebanese women cannot pass their nationality to their children. 

Blending humor, emotion, and political urgency, the play explores the right of Lebanese women to pass their nationality to their children. At its core lies a pressing question of belonging and transmission: how can one be recognized as “Lebanese” when both law and history refuse to grant that recognition?


“ “Libanaise, de Mère en Fille” is not a play about exile, but about the in-between,” says Khalaf, who was inspired by her own son’s inability to get Lebanese citizenship despite his deep-rooted connection to the country. “My son carries my Lebanese family name, speaks Arabic, loves Lebanon, and yet has no right to its passport.”

She added:” I am truly honored that the Nouvel Acte Festival selected “Libanaise, de Mère en Fille”. It is a privilege to present it in Paris at the Funambule Montmartre Theatre, a venue committed to humanitarian and women’s rights causes.”

Directed by Ji Chen, with live oud music by Hadi Nasreddine – who has appeared on stage alongside Joanna-and visuals by Kawthar Ballouq, the play is presented by International Theatre Paris.