Laila Soliman

Laila Soliman is an independent Egyptian theatre director and playwright, based in Cairo. Trained at the American University in Cairo (BA in Theatre) and at Dasart in Amsterdam, she was artist in Residence and Visiting Associate Professor at New York University in Abu Dhabi (2022-24). Laila Soliman has been relentlessly exploring the flux in the contemporary socio-political climate and its influence on individuals, relationships, and power structures. Drawing on collective memories and personal histories, her work is an attempt to bridge the gap between official versions and intimate and personal experiences. More recent pieces include Wanaset Yodit (2020), and her first opera, Woman at Point 0 (2022) that won the Fedora-Generali Prize for Opera. Laila Soliman’s plays and texts have been published in the anthology Plays from the Arab World by Nick Hern Books and the Royal Court Theatre, London and in the Theater der Zeit magazine.