QUA
Community devising project with MENA women non-actors
QUA, meaning "strength" in Arabic, is a community-driven devising project designed for MENA women with no formal acting experience. Over the course of three months, five MENA women participated in weekly sessions focused on acting, improvisation, devising, and movement. Together, they created a powerful performance that delves into the complexities of resistance in an increasingly policed state.
Lead artist Sama Rantisi drew inspiration from her father’s writings, using them as a foundation to explore the resilience and strength of Palestinian women, shaping the project’s narrative of endurance and defiance.
We shared our work on March 2nd 2024 at BOLD Elephant.
QUA develops the skills and creativity of women rarely able to express themselves artistically and tells complex stories about an identity systemically excluded.
CREATIVE TEAM:
Devisers: Daniah Al-Mounajim, Liana Harris, Majida Jawhar, Shireen Taha, Hurriyah Ziada
Lead artist & Writer: Sama Rantisi
Dramaturg, Director & Creative Producer: Sînziana Cojocărescu
Movement director: Mat Wernham
Musician: Kareem Samara
Assistant director: iulia isar
Produced by Claire Gilbert
Funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Bertha Activism Award 2023.
LEAD ARTIST:
Sama Rantisi is a London-based bilingual Palestinian actress and recipient of the Bertha Artivism Award 2023 for QUA, a devising project for MENA women non-actors (23-24). She graduated BA Acting at Marjon's University in Plymouth and has toured the Southwest in a successful production of Julius Caesar by the Actors’ Wheel.
Sama performed in “Light in me, don’t die” at the Barbican Theatre for International Women’s Day 2024; in Welcome to Gaza (Portobello Theatre 2025) 5 *; in Terminal 1 at Glastonbury Festival 2025, an immersive theatre experience highlighting the UK’s immigration system.
Sama has recently performed in Application 39 part of Pal Art Festival at Theatro Technis (who have offered dates for this current iteration of QUA), 4* from the Guardian in May 2025.
Sama is a regular BÉZNĂ Theatre collaborator, having taken part in numerous R&Ds and performed in the People's Tribunal 2021, wipe these tears 2022 & the BÉZNĂ Kabaret 2023, as well as being the lead artist for QUA.
Sama’s performance as Ayshea in the People’s Tribunal was highlighted by Amelia Gentleman in a Guardian feature: “The windows on the car, they all smashed,” Palestinian actress Sama Rantisi will say, when she powerfully brings Ayshea back to life to give posthumous evidence.“
Sama is currently enrolled in an MA in Linguistics at Queen Mary University, where she is harness the power of language and her bilingualism to strengthen her theatrical practice.
