Roger Assaf is one of Lebanon’s most celebrated directors, actors and playwrights. From a Christian background, Roger later converted to Shia Islam, the same religion as his actress wife Hanane Hajj-Ali, with whom he founded the Al Hakawati (Storyteller) Theatre Company. His theatrical talent has taken him from Lebanon to cities across the world, often directing his wife in productions. The latter include Muzzakarat Ayyub (Memoirs of Jacob) in which Roger Assaf directed his wife to great acclaim on the Paris stage. In 1997, again with his wife, he co-founded Shams, an Arabic acronym meaning Sun and which stands for the Cultural Cooperative for Youth in Theatre and Culture. Shams gives underprivileged groups a forum for self-expression through the dramatic arts and is also active in a humanitarian capacity, with relief efforts in Lebanon’s 2006 summer war among its activities. Among Roger Assaf’s plays, “Sanayeh Garden” received great acclaim. The play within a play, first performed in 1997, is set to the backdrop of war and typifies the avant-garde style for which Assaf is most renowned. His recent movie credits include acting roles in Danielle Arbid’s “In the Battlefields” and Michel Kammoun’s “Falafel”. Ricardo Karam interviewed Roger Assaf in Beirut, Lebanon.