“Every time I look at you, you take me someplace so far away, I forget to breathe.”

Some days are so hard, we get through it by imagining another place, with another person, in another reality. Youssef’s melancholic journey through his past, through relationships and pain, leads him to fantasies of a place where he can love who he wants and is loved for who he is.

Written by M (Egypt) - wants to remain anonymous

Sound Design by Hana Seifelnasr

Project Managed by - Nery Mounir (Egypt) and Lama (Palestine)

Content warning: stories where you mirror the character as they move around their homes can have a powerful impact. This story contains mention of a past experience of childhood sexual assault. We encourage the audience to listen to their instinct on whether they are in the right time or place to listen or not. 

Play Inside Series 2: How to be a Real Man or The Availability of Air is a selection of embodied audio stories from writers from Palestine, Egypt and the UK, funded by the British Council International Collaboration Fund and directed by UK artists Michelle Roche and Rosie Poebright (Splash and Ripple) in collaboration with Dawar Arts, Egypt and The Freedom Theatre, Palestine

Welcome into our worlds. Into our homes, into our lives. 

Come, join us for a moment. 

Witness what we see, what we feel, what we hear. 

We get power from sharing our stories. Witnessing survivors' perspectives shifts the power back into their hands. These stories transport us from homes in Egypt to England and to Palestine. We know it’s not always easy to listen to, but it’s important to be heard, to be witness to the complexity of lives, and resilience of people, people fighting for air and remembering to breathe.