Comedian Nour Hajjar roams the stage of the Métro Al-Madina theatre, pillorying militants of the [puissant parti armé pro-Iran du] Hezbollah as the bankers responsible for the financial disaster in Lebanon.
He flaunts scathing humor, but what is most surprising about this scene is that, despite all the disasters facing the country – hyperinflation, pandemic-related lockdowns, the collapse of the economy and the terrible explosions in the port of Beirut in 2020 – the Metro Al-Madina theater is still there, with a show playing almost every night.
The theater, nestled in a basement in the heart of the capital, is only ten years old, but it has quickly become an institution renowned for its shows ranging from cabaret to burlesque through belly dancing, political satire and musicals. Once the curtain has fallen, spectators generally migrate to the theater bar, where people linger to dance until late at night.
Adapt to survive
While many artists and musicians left Lebanon after the explosions that occurred in the port of Beirut – fueling the exodus of the most brilliant and highly educated Lebanese – Hicham Jaber, founder and artistic director of Metro Al- Madina, remembers that he had “just the silly feeling of wanting to stay there”. “We reopened after the last lockdown, when the economy was in shambles and the dollar was at its highesthe continues. It was like in a video game where you go from level to level
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Financial Times (London)Founded in 1888 as London Financial Guide, a four-page journal intended “to honest investors and respectable brokers”, le Financial Times is today the leading financial and economic daily newspaper in Europe. There is not a financial institution or bank worth its salt that does not receive a copy of this British newspaper instantly recognizable by its salmon-pink paper.
Bought by the Japanese group Nikkei in 2015, the “City newspaper” saw its number of subscribers to the paper edition gradually erode (155,000 in February 2020), but has more than 740,000 digital subscribers; 70% of its readership resides outside the UK.
More than 600 journalists from more than 40 countries contribute to the title.
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