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He obtained his diploma from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1991. Since April 2016, he has served as the director of the Théâtre National de la Colline in Paris. However, his career was initially shaped by his Lebanese heritage and his experience in Canada. In Canada, at the age of twenty, Mouawad encountered Robert Lepage. In an interview, the playwright stated that at 22, having Robert Lepage attend one's performances is a significant and meaningful experience. Such an encounter is particularly noteworthy when the individual in question subsequently offers the following observation: "That is commendable.” Both artists observed each other's performances with great interest, and Mouawad paid tribute to his mentor in Seuls, in which a doctoral student is engaged in research on the latter.
Wajdi Mouawad's oeuvre reveals a web of memory, woven into his theatrical works. The author's Lebanese heritage, his experiences of exile, first in France and then in Canada, his family and personal relationships, are interwoven with historical conflicts linked to his own heritage, and these permeate his writing as a testimony that is both intimate and public. A significant portion of its substantial output has been steadily making its way to Spain: Incendios, his most celebrated work, comprises Cielos, Madre, Hermanas, Litoral, Un obús en el corazón, Seúl and other notable titles. It has led to the discovery of not only a playwright but also a poet and philosopher, who expresses himself through theatre, directs his own creations and adaptations of classics by Sophocles and Shakespeare.
Journée de noces chez les Cromagnons, which he presents with the Théâtre National de La Colline in France, where he is director, was written by Mouawad in 1991, when he was 23 years old. In this work, the author draws upon his personal experiences of Lebanon, evoking memories of his childhood, family, war and trauma. It characterises the work as an "essential" contribution to the field. ‘It allowed me, for the first time, to unite two worlds that in my environment and in the geopolitical context in which I was born were still separating in a violent and bloody way: Judaism, Christianity and Islam’.
The setting is inconsequential; it may be Beirut, where Mouawad contemplated the horror of death with the eyes of a child, or it may be one of the ruined villages in Ukraine or Palestine, currently under siege by bombs. The key issue is the factual situation: the persistent bombing raids near the home of a family who, despite the surrounding chaos, have organised their eldest daughter’s wedding, who is suffering from a sleep-related illness.
It should be noted that this wedding is a family-arranged event. It is unlikely that a war will prevent people from coming together to celebrate, regardless of the underlying motivation. Also, the groom. The decision to construct a fiction is a form of resistance, offering an optimistic perspective in a situation that may otherwise appear hopeless. This play, situated on the precipice between life and death, illuminates the impact of war on individuals. It explores the complex dynamics between parents and children, portraying both tragedy and humour.
In Journée de noces chez les Cromagnons, Mouawad also wanted to use his mother tongue, Arabic, in his theatre. The original play was written in French. He engaged the services of a Lebanese translator to translate his work and experienced a sense of liberation, as if his true voice was finally being heard
