{"id":380639,"date":"2025-01-01T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=380639"},"modified":"2024-12-30T10:28:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T13:28:10","slug":"mouhamed-harfouch-brings-syrian-origins-to-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/mouhamed-harfouch-brings-syrian-origins-to-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Mouhamed Harfouch brings Syrian origins to stage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 It was during the process of reconnecting with his Syrian roots<\/strong> that Rio de Janeiro-born actor Mouhamed Harfouch<\/strong>, 47, wrote the play Meu rem\u00e9dio<\/em>. The monologue will debut on January 10, 2025, at the Teatro Ipanema<\/a> stage in Rio de Janeiro, with a duration of 1 hour and 10 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe premise of my play is that every name holds a story, and it\u2019s through my name that I\u2019ll present my story on stage. During the creation process of the play, I realized that a name is never just a name\u2014it\u2019s a journey, it speaks of your entire ancestry,\u201d says Harfouch.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Harfouch
Harfouch (L) as Ali, with castmates from \u201c\u00d3rf\u00e3os da Terra\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The middle child of a Syrian<\/strong> father and a Brazilian mother, the actor will talk about his father\u2019s story and the Arab influence on his television career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As I grew up, I lived with my Western friends and my Arab roots. When I saw my father speaking Arabic with relatives who live in Syria, it always seemed like something magical, mystical. Over time, I became more connected with my roots, and this created a sense of belonging. And now I want to tell my story to honor the Arab culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before creating this monologue, Harfouch, who has 30 years of experience as an actor, had already had professional experiences that brought him closer to his roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was in 2006, in the soap opera P\u00e9 na Jaca<\/em>, that I played my first Arab character<\/strong>, Houssein,\u201d he says. The actor had to speak with an Arabic accent. \u201cAs I\u2019d never done it before, I thought it would turn out badly, but I tried and imitated my father, and in the end, it was great,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this first role, Harfouch went on to play three other Arab characters on TV Globo: Farid in Cordel Encantado<\/em> in 2011, P\u00e9rsio in the telenovela Amor \u00e0 Vida<\/em>, which aired in 2013, and six years later, Ali, his most recent Arab character in \u00d3rf\u00e3os da Terra<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it was very important and meaningful to have had the opportunity to portray these. For the Arabs living here in Brazil, I think seeing such a character in a Globo telenovela is a chance to feel represented, to feel close to others,\u201d explains Harfouch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese characters also become a way to present Arab culture to those who are unfamiliar with it and in a way, help combat prejudice from those who don\u2019t know what Arabs are like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arab influence since Harfouch’s childhood<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was between the 1960s and 1970s that Mouhamed\u2019s father arrived in Brazil. Young, alone, and not speaking the native language, Nadim Harfouch worked various jobs, including as a street vendor and peddler, to send money to his family in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter a few years, he met my mother and started working as a real estate agent. When I look back and see how brave my father was, I feel very proud because at that time there weren\u2019t as many opportunities as there are now, so he had to work really hard to succeed in the country,\u201d says the actor.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Harfouch
Harfouch says he is proud of his father\u2019s courage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cJust as he had to fight hard when he arrived in Brazil, I also had to when I decided to become an actor, without the influence or help from anyone. I drew a lot of inspiration from his courage to follow my own path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many years, even without realizing it, his Arab roots were present in many moments of his life. \u201cMy father spoke Arabic at home quite frequently, and without realizing it, I ended up learning to understand several words. I can\u2019t actually speak it, but I understand a bit of this highly complex language. And that accent ended up seeping into my profession,\u201d says Harfouch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the language, Arab music and cuisine were also part of his everyday life. And to ensure this tradition doesn\u2019t end with him, Harfouch decided to pass it on to his two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Arabic dishes that my mother used to make for me when I was a child, now I make for my two children. They love Arabic music, and my youngest, Bento, unknowingly mimics gestures I used to see my father making.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:
<\/em>Eduardo Mossri revisits his roots via theater<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report by Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supplied<\/div>
Supplied<\/div>
Supplied<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After playing four Arab characters in TV Globo telenovelas, the actor prepares to debut in Rio de Janeiro with the play Meu rem\u00e9dio, which unveils the story behind his name and addresses his Arab heritage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2342,"featured_media":379812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[51129,9583,9534,5898,52084,52085,10540,9611,42193,4119],"class_list":{"0":"post-380639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"tag-actors","9":"tag-arabs-en","10":"tag-brazil-en","11":"tag-brazilians","12":"tag-meu-remedio-2","13":"tag-plays","14":"tag-rio-de-janeiro-en","15":"tag-syria-en","16":"tag-teatro-en","17":"tag-theater"},"wps_subtitle":"After playing four Arab characters in TV Globo telenovelas, the actor prepares to debut in Rio de Janeiro with the play Meu rem\u00e9dio, which unveils the story behind his name and addresses his Arab heritage.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}