Golden Thread's New Threads 20018 Series presents
Drowning in Cairo
TUESDAY, JUNE 5 – 7PM (FREE)
By Adam Ashraf Elsayigh
Directed by Kal Naga
Playwright Adam Ashraf Elsayigh
It is May 2001 in Cairo. Moody, Khalid, and their servant Taha are on the Queen Boat, a gay nightclub docked on the Nile. When an unexpected police raid results in the arrest and public humiliation of the attendees, the lives of these young men are altered forever. Recent NYU Abu Dhabi graduate Adam Ashraf El-Sayigh weaves budding romances, class differences, and familial expectations into a loving portrait of three men who all struggle to rebuild their lives against all odds.
ABOUT
Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, returns to Brava with New Threads 2018, its popular and free staged reading series. This year’s line-up includes plays by Turkish-American playwright Melis Aker (Manar in ReOrient 2017), recent NYU Abu Dhabi graduate Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, Bay Area-based Iraqi-Assyrian-American writer Edessa Tailo, and celebrated Romanian-French writer Matéi Vişniec. Bringing these gems to life will be four directors of Middle Eastern descent: internationally-acclaimed Egyptian actor and director Kal Naga; sought-after Iranian-American new plays director Pirronne Yousefzadeh; director and multimedia artist Nima Dehghani, who was named the “The Best Young Director of the Year" by the Iranian Theatre Directors Center in 2012; and Golden Thread’s own Evren Odcikin.
Each play is teeming with unexpected humor, surprising characters, and important questions about the world we live in today. Audiences will have an opportunity to ask questions and engage the playwrights and the creative team in conversation after each reading. The four staged readings will take place Tuesdays, June 5, 12, 19, and 26 at Brava Theater Center (2481 24th Street, San Francisco). All readings are at 7pm and FREE. For more information and to RSVP, please visit goldenthread.org.
UPCOMING READINGS IN THE SERIES
Tuesday, June 12 – 7pm
FOG
By Edessa Tailo
Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh
Tuesday, June 19 – 7pm
FIELD, AWAKENING
By Melis Aker
Directed by Evren Odcikin
Tuesday, June 26 – 7pm
MIGRAAAANTS
or There’s Too Many People On This Damn Boat
or TheClosing-Up Show
By Matéi Vişniec, translated by Nick Awde
Adapted and directed by Nima Dehghani
Presented in association with Crowded Fire Theater Company