Amir Nizar Zuabi

I am an award-winning playwright and director and creator of two TED Talks in 2021 and 2023. I am a member of the United Theaters Europe for artistic achievement, an alumni of The Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the founding Artistic Director of ShiberHur Theater Company, and a former Associate Director of the Young Vic Theatre. In 2021 I created "The Walk", the journey of Little Amal - the 12 foot puppet of a 10 year old Syrian refugee child who has become a global symbol of human rights. She has now journeyed to 16 countries, meeting 2 million people on the streets, watched by tens of millions online. Coming next is "The Herds", the vast journey of hundreds of life-size puppet animals from West Africa to Norway, fleeing climate disaster. TED Countdown is a foundation partner of the project which we announced with my latest TED talk at TED Countdown 2023. I have written and directed extensively for festivals and theaters around the world, including pieces such as "I am Yusuf", "Three Days of Grief" and "Grey Rock". I directed "Jidarriya" by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish for the Edinburgh International Festival and "The Comedy of Errors" for the Royal Shakespeare Company. As well as "The Herds" I am currently creating a show for Riksteatern Theater in Stockholm and writing a new play for the National Theatre in London.

Telling stories that matter

Theater has the power to transform the most pressing issues of our time from news stories into human stories.

Theatre

I have created two TED talks with the brilliant team at TED including "The Herds" at TED Countdown in 2023 and "Walk with Little Amal" at TEDMonterey in 2021 which has amassed 1.7m views and was reprised for TEDinArabic in Amman, Jordan in 2022.

Taming horses