He's Not Here / ABOUT US

Outloud warmly invites you to a series of intimate performances and conversations, ABOUT US. Running on select Friday & Thursdays evenings throughout April, May & June, ABOUT US is 10 online readings of incredible stories, plays and books co-curated and created by the many cultural communities in Western Sydney. 

Join us and the artists for a rehearsed reading and facilitated conversation afterwards, to share your own stories, thoughts and ideas around what these texts say about who we are, what we care about, how COVID has affected these communities here and abroad, and how we can support each other from here on.

You can find out about the other performances we have going on & reserve your tickets for those here: https://outloud.org.au/project...

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HE'S NOT HERE

A new high schooler tries to become his recently deceased brother and discovers disturbing truths regarding the death that strains their family and forces a confrontation with the man responsible.

South-west Sydney, late 2018. Floating between primary and high school with his best friend Yvette, twelve-year-old Joseph Chamoun lives for his older brother Charbel’s charisma and the peace he brings to their Lebanese-French-Australian family. When Charbel dies in a car accident and the family’s paternal relationships implode, Joseph vows without any grieving time to replace Charbel by working under their landscaper father Samir, and weight training with their entrepreneurial bodybuilder cousin Mark; both of which Charbel did. After his efforts are thwarted by Samir succumbing to extreme anxiety and Mark distancing himself from the family, Joseph uses hidden money, which Charbel stole from Mark, to landscape their grandmother Salwa’s garden—only to discover the house broken into and his grandfather Boutros unresponsive. Suspecting Mark is responsible, Joseph cracks the passcode to Charbel’s phone and learns that Mark abandoned Charbel in a violent dispute the night he died. Joseph retaliates by vandalising Mark’s gym and is kidnapped by Mark, who, drug-affected and distraught, forcibly trains Joseph far beyond his adolescent ability. Joseph secretly alerts his father to their whereabouts and, with Samir, tries to protect an unraveling Mark from harm when police arrest him. Reunited with the family at his grandfather’s deathbed, Joseph reconciles Samir and Boutros using a traditional gesture of peace and finally his own locked grief releases. Months later, traveling to France to meet his maternal grandparents for the first time, Joseph strays from his family and, lost in a foreign city, he meets and plays music with a child busker who resembles him. 

CAST

Director: Chloe de Brito

Facilitator: Marcus Khoudair 

Big Print Reader: Emma Elias

Actors:
Jacob Rahme
Julian Maroun 
Nicole Chamoun
Salim Fayad
Isabelle Nader
Andrew Attieh 
Danielle Stamoulos 
Helen Chebatte
Joseph Khoudair
Marcus Khoudair 

He's Not Here is a feature film screenplay in development, written by Marcus Khoudair. Follow his work here.

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CONTENT NOTES: Contains drug references and use, occasional swearing and offensive language (in context), deals with death and very occasional physical violence. The script is heavily location and time specific, but it is fictional. Marcus Khoudair has written this work by drawing on his own personal experience of his Lebanese Maronite heritage, and from working with high-school aged children. Marcus Khoudair is an accredited Youth Mental Health First Aider and will be present for the entirety of the performance.