Ma’louba

Ma’louba—Arabic for “upside down”—is a collective founded by Syrian theatre makers, who graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus and are now based across Europe. Collective Ma’louba’s work reflects on the lived experiences of Arabs in a global context, exploring their historical, political and colonial links, and the unsettled status of existences. Their works are always topical and include themes of migration, identity, culture, freedom and the nature of theatre. Their creations Your Love Is Fire (2017), Days In The Sun (2018), Reine Formsache (2019), The Return Of Danton (2021) and Up There (2022) have toured extensively including to Theater an der Ruhr (Mülheim), Kammerspiele (München), Made in Germany Festival (Stuttgart); Summerhall, Edinburgh; and Novi Sad, Serbia. الظل الطويل لألويس برونر (2023) is touring 9 countries in 2025: Tunisia, Ireland, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Egypt and Germany. Collective Ma’louba was initiated in 2016 by Theater an der Ruhr to provide professional working conditions to Syrian artists in Germany. It was the company in residence until 2021 and continues to rehearse there.