The end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s was, undoubtedly, the golden age of both the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus and the city itself, which witnessed theater workshops, visits from foreign experts, movement, cultural exchange, and artists dispatched missions. Yet, all of that stopped with the beginning of the movement, and only became more impossible with the travel restrictions imposed on Syrian passport holders. Eventually, the Mraya troupe members found themselves completely isolated from Arab and international cultural movements.

To break this isolation, Mraya will host a storytelling workshop with Hassan al-Geretly, the Egyptian director and founder of the famous Al Warsha theater troupe, to allow troupe members to benefit from his decades of experience.