August 26, 2023
WoEgypt

Diana Saad, founder and managing director of the Mulberry Tree (MT) entity, won the Fulbright scholarship this year 2023-2024 to research and study inclusive theater in Kansas State University, USA.

The Fulbright Program, launched by the late U.S. Congressman William J. Fulbright in 1946, allows outstanding students, professionals, and artists around the world to study at American universities to advance their careers as well as enhance international cultural understanding.

During Diana’s stay in America, she will work under the guidance and supervision of “Sally Bailey” who is a professor of theater, the director of the Drama Therapy Program, and a member of the Gerontology faculty at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She directs the Barrier-Free Theatre, a theater troupe of adults with and without disabilities. Her book Barrier-Free Theatre: Including Everyone in Theatre Arts – in Schools, Recreation, and Arts Programs – Regardless of (Dis)Ability was the recipient of the American Alliance for Theatre in Education’s 2011 Distinguished Book Award.

Diana worked in the field of disability and development in some NGOs in parallel with the field of drama and theater for more than 5 years as an actress, she was honored by the First Lady of Egypt; Entesar El- Sisi at the Icon of Success celebration on the International Women’s Day as one of the influential women in Egypt last March 2022.

Diana Saad explained that she thanks all success partners for the steps of Mulberry Tree (MT), starting from “Nahdet El Mahrousa”, and the “Basita Live”, which helped her supervise the application process to apply for the Fulbright scholarship during her participating in Basita Live Fellowship for the year 2021-2022, ending with the business incubator “enpact” whoseMT team works Currently under their supervision through the “Doroob” program. 

Diana claimed that she is so excited to work and discover inclusive theater in America with the university professor “Sally Bailey” to transfer her experience in Egypt and achieve better results towards an inclusive artistic and cultural scene.

Mulberry Tree (MT) is an entity that seeks to create an access point for persons with disabilities in the art and culture scene in Egypt in an inclusion environment and a safe place for expression to discover and promote their talents contributes to raising public awareness of their artistic issues, through providing Drama and theater casting opportunities, participating in arts inclusion awareness campaigns and events.

MT has implemented 4 previous rounds of the “Ehkily and Zay Alresha” program, which included about 50% of the participants with different disabilities, in addition to implementing several contemporary dance and storytelling performances included different performers with disabilities, the most important of which is “Here We Are”, directed by Hani Afifi. Funded by the European Union in Egypt and EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), Action For Hope, with collaboration of Basita Live, Studio Emad Eddin, Orient Production and  “Al Nour Wal Amal” Association. It was shown for the first time within the framework of the “Bab El Bahr Festival” in Alexandria, organized by the Agora Center for the Arts and Basita live platform, on November 2, 2022.

In addition to the production of “Getting Together”- A Contemporary dance performance, directed and choreographed by Ibrahim Abdo, performed by 2 performers with hearing disabilities, which was shown as part of the activities of “Fenoon El Mahrousa” Festival at the Cultural Tahrir Center at the American University on March 3, 2023.

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