Ashes
A reporter is following a lawyer who trued to re open the case of a murdered woman by recalling her dead soul by her grave and interrogates her.
Entries by Arjun Dhawan
Women of Lorca
The play uses Lorca’ female characters to represent Iraqi women and their suffering first under the control of their own society and then by themselves as they gradually became addicted to the dictatorship of their own selves. Even when they try to break free of such control, the create a new controller by themselves.
The Kite Runner
Amir and Hassan are best friends growing up in Afghanistan in the 1970s until the Soviet invasion pulls them apart. Amir and his father immigrate to the United States, while Hassan stays behind. Twenty years later, Amir is called back to Afghanistan to rescue Hassan’s son from the now war-torn country, but first, he must face demons from his past. The Kite Runner is a heartbreaking story of loyalty, betrayal, and redemption set against the backdrop of global politics.
The Most Dangerous Highway in the World
The play Hair gives a panoramic view of hair as a political statement through the monologues of nine characters from different cultures, ethnicities, colours, ages and sexualities It aims to bring to light the objectification of women through the commercial use of hair, through the heritage of fairy tales which transfer the ownership of the female body and hair to the man, and by examining the voyeurism projected towards hair. It also employs irony in some monologues, movement and dance. In one of the nine monologues, Hair speaks for itself and reveals many taboos about itself. There we can easily see Hair as a symbol of the unspoken oppression and dehumanization imposed on women and people of color. Another monologue is the voice of pubic hair, where we can also confront a tradition of patriarchy that enslaves, mutes, and infantilizes female sexuality.
Oh My Sweet Land
Called “extraordinary” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Oh My Sweet Land returns to Bay Area home and community kitchens after a sold-out pilot run in October 2017. The tour-de-force solo show, based on interviews with Syrian refugees in Jordan, takes an unflinching and personal look at the Syrian refugee crisis, and the brutal war that led up to it. In the play, a woman of mixed Syrian-German parentage recalls her encounter with Ashraf, a Syrian man in Paris, all the while preparing kibbeh, a Syrian delicacy. When he disappears, she goes on an arduous journey in search of him that leads to stirring conversations with some of the two-million Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. One part detective story, one part a woman’s reckoning with her heritage, Oh My Sweet Land offers an intimate and nuanced perspective on the conflict in Syria and highlights the resilience of the Syrian people. Oh My Sweet Land runs one hour followed by a 30-minute food sharing and community conversation. Instead of a traditional theater space, Oh My Sweet Land will be performed in kitchens around the Bay Area with performances followed by food sharing and community conversations. The performance includes the cooking of meat, onions, wheat, and spices.
Love, Bombs, and Apples
A Palestinian actor learns there’s more to English girls than pure sex appeal. A Pakistani-born terror suspect figures out what’s wrong with his first novel. A British youth suspects all is not what it seems with his object of desire. A New Yorker asks his girlfriend for a sexual favor at the worst possible time. Love, Bombs & Apples is the comic tale of four men, each from different parts of the globe, all experiencing a moment of revelation.
We Swim, We Talk, We Go to War
While trying to navigate the currents of the Pacific, an Arab-American woman and her nephew, who has enlisted in the military, dive into the murky waters of family, identity, and politics. Adventurous and playful, We Swim takes the form of a literal conversation on stage, and expands into a nuanced dialogue about what it means to be American, Arab, and Arab-American at our current moment in time.The play offers its audience an opportunity to examine America’s relationship with its military, as well as its growing Middle Eastern immigrant population. It blurs the lines between “us” and “them,” and presents a provocative exploration of the tragic and indelible ripples of war.
Salim Salim
When Palestinian Salim Abyad is released from an Israeli prison, the Israeli authorities mistakenly bring him to the Gaza border crossing while his family awaits his return on the other side of the country, in the West Bank. Salim knows that if he enters Gaza, he might never see them again. Stranded on the border, Salim has to find a solution before the Israeli soldiers make a choice for him.
A Distinct Society
A quiet library that straddles the border of the U.S. and Canada becomes an unlikely crucible for five people from around the world. When an Iranian family, separated from one another by the “Muslim ban,” use the library as a meeting place, the head librarian, a U.S. border patrol officer, and a local teenager have to choose between breaking the law and saving themselves.
Elsewhere: A Play for an Audience of One
‘Elsewhere’ tells stories of refugees from different times and places; a Syrian refugee, a Sudanese refugee, a Venezuelan refugee and more. The play is meant to be experienced in a one on one setting; each audience member meets each of the refugees for an intimate 7 minutes encounter. A voice guides audience members on their journey through the stories. Each viewer will experience the play in a different order until the group is reunited at the end of the cycle.