Ali Al Samra (Lebanon)
Ali Al Samra is an Arab theatre maker, performer and researcher, born in a city combining a mixture of veiled past, death, contradictions, halal and haram. Having studied acting and directing at the Lebanese University, he developed a curiosity for discovering myths, fables and stories and merging multidisciplinary articulations for storytelling, such as shadow theatre, puppets and masks. As a performer, his latest works include The Tale of the Shadows (2022), Elephant in the Room (2023) and Pinocchio (2024). The integration of theatre in social-educational fields is one of his main research interests. Ali Al Samra joined The Red Bridge Ensemble in 2018, a group focused on Playback Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed. In 2021, he also joined "The International Institution for Very Serious Studies" (IIVVSS), a performance training program for social engagement. Through his work with Seenaryo, he developed his expertise in play-based learning approaches through theatre in schools.

Jana Bou Matar (Lebanon)
Jana Bou Matar is a theater-maker who performs, directs and writes for theater to challenge concepts around political and social ideas in her environment. She has written and directed her first theater performance Meaning Making Cocktail, produced by Zoukak Theater, which was shown in Monnot Theater (2021) and Zoukak Theater (2022) and was invited to represent Lebanon in Carthage Festival. She has worked as assistant director on multiple plays, including The Rave Empire, The Gazelle of Akka, Lines directed by Junaid Sarieddine and Pinocchio, directed by Omar Abi Azar. Jana Bou Matar is currently pursuing her master's in Theater Studies at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. She is one of the founders of Kawalis Zoukak Kommunity which is a community of performing arts practitioners focused on the growth of collective and individual artistic practices. Since 2021, Jana Bou Matar has been a performer and member of Laban Theater, a troupe that works with improvisational theater and its applications in civil society.