Leila Toubel
{{Short description|Tunisian screenwriter, actress, playwright, and cultural activist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leila Toubel
| image = Portrait Toubel.jpg
| alt = Leila Toubel in 2018.
| caption =
| birth_date = 1962
| birth_place = Hammam Lif, Tunisia
| nationality = Tunisian
| occupation = Playwright, actress, screenwriter, theatre director, festival director
| years_active = 1990–present
| known_for = Leading figure in contemporary Tunisian theatre; works on social justice and women's rights
}}
Leila Toubel (born 1962, Hammam Lif, Tunisia) is a Tunisian playwright, actress, screenwriter, and theatre director. She is recognized as one of the leading figures in contemporary Tunisian theatre, known for her bold, socially engaged works that address issues such as women's rights, freedom of expression, and political change.{{Cite web |title=Leila Toubel |url=https://dancingontheedge.nl/artists/leila-toubel/ |website=Dancing on the Edge Festival |access-date=2025-04-19}}{{Cite news |title=Toubal's 'Yaqouta' stands up on stage to defend the rights of women |url=https://thearabweekly.com/toubals-yaqouta-stands-stage-defend-rights-women |work=The Arab Weekly |date=5 August 2021 |access-date=2025-04-19}}
Early life
Toubel began writing poetry and short stories from a young age and was involved in school theatre from age thirteen. Her professional career was launched in 1990 after an audition at the El Hamra Theatre in Tunis, where she began a long creative partnership with director Ezzedine Gannoun.
Theater works
Toubel’s body of work includes acting, writing, and directing for the stage. Her plays are known for their incisive exploration of Tunisian society, especially in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution. Notable works include:
- Monstranum's (2013): Written by Toubel and directed by Ezzedine Gannoun, this play uses allegory to depict post-revolutionary Tunisia, exploring themes of power, corruption, and collective memory.{{Cite journal |title=Tunisian Theater Through the Lens of Revolution |journal=The Drama Review |volume=59 |issue=3 |year=2015 |pages=83–100 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43741454 |access-date=2025-04-19}}
- Solwen (2015): A monodrama produced by Toubel’s company Resist'Art, addressing socio-political realities in post-revolution Tunisia, including critiques of patriarchy and obscurantism.{{Cite web |title=An Interview with Leila Toubel, Member of President Kais Saied's Consultative Committee |url=https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/44358 |website=Jadaliyya |date=8 August 2022 |access-date=2025-04-19}}
- Hourya (2016): A music-theatre piece about terrorism and impossible love, performed internationally, including at UNESCO in Paris.
- Yakouta (2021): A monodrama focusing on the condition of women, gender-based violence, and the struggle for emancipation; it has been performed in Tunisia and Europe and won the “Massrah Ensemble pour l'écriture théâtrale” award.
- Ad Vitam (2023): A return to ensemble theatre, this poetic and metaphor-rich play explores themes of memory, nature, and the fragility of existence.
Artistic and social engagement
Toubel is known for using theater as a platform for resistance and civic engagement, especially regarding freedom of expression and women’s rights. She directed the Boukornine Festival and has served on juries for major cultural events, including the Journées Théâtrales de Carthage.
In 2020, she launched the project Dream's Chebeb, supporting young artists across Tunisia’s 24 governorates in theater, dance, video, photography, and music, with the aim of empowering youth and decentralizing cultural production.