'Each day we learn about a new loss': artists unite in blast-hit Beirut

Lebanon's performers rally to fundraise and tell stories of survival in country devastated by disaster

The deadly explosion in Beirut on 4 August was likened to 15 years of war in 15 seconds by Lebanon's ambassador to the UN, Amal Mudallali.

It's been hell," says Sahar Assaf, an actor, director and professor of theatre at the American University of Beirut. We're still in disbelief and trying to fathom what happened. Each day we learn about a new loss, a new story." Assaf is working to support artists through the crisis. It feels like time stopped at the moment of the explosion. It's devastating to witness all the destruction."