ACTING — Afaf Shawwa Bibi

Shawwa is so convincing as the movie star [Aziza] that it's not difficult to
imagine her landing feature roles in the near future.

- Backstage Review

When I was a 18 months old, my mother overheard me howling in pain. She rushed into the living room and found me clutching my belly, swaying and moaning; I was mimicking a woman on TV giving birth. Thus emerged my lifelong love affair with acting.

My acting has come a long way since: instead of mimicry and mechanics, I bring myself into the character – resulting in performances that are organic and authentic. As an actor, I empathize to connect with the characters I play; I listen and observe to interact naturally with other actors; and I use intuition and imagination to bring the story or message to life authentically.

I can go from being steady, calm, classy, smooth, steady to crazy, fun, loud, emotional, 100%, energetic in the span of seconds. That is who I am as a person, and that translates to my acting as well.

Highly trained, with over 20 theater productions, numerous commercials, and several short films, my credits include:

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AWARDS:
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (The Shadow Box), Junction Awards 2019
Best Actress Runner-up (Diary of a Break-Up/Break Down), Short+Sweet 2017
Best Actress (Diary of a Break-Up/Break Down), Alex Broun Play Festival 2016
Excellence Award for Ensemble Performance (Sajjil), New York International Fringe Festival 2002

As a child, I was fascinated with the 1950s films of Armenian-Egyptian child prodigy Fayrouz, the Arab world’s Shirley Temple, who would act, sing and dance, transforming like a chameleon.

Mufid & Afaf cruise.jpg — ***“There’s a class to your madness”***

What draws me to acting? The buzz and thrill of being in the zone, whether on stage, screen or behind the mic. The magic of a character coming alive, of fresh interaction between two actors, of a message or story moving an audience to laugh, cry, think, or act.
When a director has a vision, I jump in with all of my senses, instincts, and intellect to make this vision a reality.

My brother Mufid and me aboard a cruise ship. He hated the dress up competition while I loved every minute of going round the tables, entertaining and interacting with everyone!

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It was an absolute pleasure working with Afaf and having her on set.
Afaf was super professional and easily open to direction. She speaks three languages and can act in all three.

- Ali Ali, Director, Good People Films

HEADSHOTS

PRESS

Actress Afaf Shawwa Bibi was distinguished by the richness of her performance and the tenderness of its expressive vocabulary, particularly her facial features.

- Annahar Newspaper

[Having] to switch very abruptly from crying to laughter to anger and back again… she does it very, very well.

- The Jordan Times

The abilities of Shawwa as an actress were truly evident: she shifts from one moment to the next from a state of anger and sadness, begging and revolution, to calm.

- Al Akhbar Newspaper

PERFORMANCE PICS

Your performance was stunning—way above anything I have seen in Beirut so far (and I do see a lot of plays). Bravo!

- Josyane Boulos, producer, author, comedian

I am also a big fan of yours! I came to see the play "Sharon and my mother-in-law" and was in awe of the superb acting and the way the story was produced for stage. It was very powerful in humanizing the conflict and funny enough it reminded me of my own book.

- Farnaz Fassihi, The New York Times & Author of Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq