Dafa Puppet Theatre

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Dafa—an Arabic word for “warmth”—was a project initiated in 2009 to reach Palestinian refugees communities in Jordan. In 2015 Husam Abed, a theater director and puppeteer, with his wife, a puppeteer, and stage designer, Reka Deak expanded their mission and co-founded Dafa Puppet Theatre, a theatre company based in Prague, Czech Republic. 

Dafa Puppet Theater yearns to spread puppet art, to promote theatre in education, and awareness, to challenge stereotypes and to connect people through theatre.

Husam Abed is a theatre director, puppeteer, musician, facilitator and producer living in Czech Republic. He is undertaking a Phd Studies at Bath Spa University, Bristol, UK and holds a Master of Directing for Alternative and Puppet Theatre, Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU), Czech Republic. 

Husam Abed leads theatre projects for children, youth and adults worldwide. He’s directed performances in Czech Republic, Jordan, Bahrain, Austria and Hong Kong; and collaborated with artists and non-artists from many nations. Husam Abed developed his approach to performing by mixing storytelling with puppetry and physical theatre. 

His multi-awarded solo performance, “Smooth Life,” was invited to theatre festivals in Europe, Macao and Arab world. In addition to being a co-founder of Dafa Puppet Theatre, he is a founding member of Hazaart, Flying Freedom Festival, LIV'in Festival in Prague and Ya khayyal Youth Theatre Lab. in Amman, a curator for IDEA festival, a board member of Sawiyan and a member of Karama Film Festival for human rights in Jordan.

As a community theatre maker and facilitator, he believes in theatre as a public practice, a tool for social change, for rewriting personal and collective history, and for finding new narrations. Theatre for him is a style of life and existence more than an art form: a medium for expression, communication, inclusion and connecting through differences. The themes and visions in his work focused on exile, war, home, dreams, man vs nature, family relations, human relations' cruelty and daily struggles.