Nora el Samahy

Join PlayGround on November 20th at 7PM PT for an evening of original short plays inspired by 'The Legacy of the Land We Inhabit.' Don't miss this opportunity to experience thought-provoking performances that bring awareness to land acknowledgment. Reserve your tickets now!

Experience the thrill of 4 world premiere plays at the Magic Theatre in 2024. Don't miss out on these exciting performances, including Dirty White Teslas Make Me Sad, Garuda's Wing, Richard II, and Jerry Garcia in the Lower Mission. Get your passes now and be part of the magic! (Dates: February 28 - March 17, June 5 - 23, August 22 - September 28).

PlayGround blasts into its 30th season of innovative new plays by taking you back to before the beginning! Join us for a new round of Monday Night PlayGround, featuring original short plays all inspired by the prompt 'Origin Story', Monday, October 16.

PlayGround, California's leading playwright incubator and theatre community hub, has announced its 29th season, including the return of the celebrated Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series on third Mondays,* October - March, in-person this year at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage and live simulcast.

OSF has announced Theatre on Film, a new series of online watch parties featuring cinematic film versions of select 2022 repertory season productions, hosted live by directors, playwrights, actors, and community members on an interactive digital platform.

The imminent start of the 2022 Oregon Shakespeare Festival season—Artistic Director Nataki Garrett’s first full season—marks a celebratory return to repertory producing. The 2022 lineup features eight on-stage plays and musicals, from classic Shakespeare to works by some of today’s most exciting playwrights.

Charles L. Mee’s rumination on the foibles of love and the love of foibles is enjoying a gloriously self-indulgent revival at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Theatre through December 19. The Les Waters-directed production is every inch an old home week occasion at Berkeley Rep, featuring longtime company members James Carpenter, Sharon Lockwood and Lori Holt.

Who doesn't enjoy a good farce? The genre's been around since recorded history, and playwright Charles L. Mee is a whiz at incorporating his influences throughout Wintertime, his comedy of the heart that sparkles with wit, charm and superb ensemble acting opening Berkeley Rep's first in-person performance in twenty long, long months.

Golden Thread has announced that Sahar Assaf is the new Artistic Director. Following a global search, Sahar has relocated from Lebanon to San Francisco to helm the now 25 year old production company beginning May 3rd, following the stepping down of founding Artistic Director Torange Yeghiazarian.

PlayCo will present a free, virtual roundtable discussion entitled Story as Resistance: The Joys, The Heartbreak, and the Food, this Sunday, December 20, at 2pm EST (1pm CST, 11am PST), as part of the company’s Idea Lab Series.

After almost 25 years since she founded the company, Golden Thread's artistic director Torange Yeghiazarian has announced that she will step down in spring 2021 and usher in the next generation of leadership for Golden Thread Productions.

The Founding Steering Committee, made up of a diverse community of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) American artists, educators, and administrators, has announced the launch of MENA Theater Makers Alliance (MENATMA), the first national alliance devoted to MENA artists and stories in the American theater.

The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary is pleased to announce a reimagined, virtual 58th season, July 25 - August 9, 2020.

Heather Raffo's critically acclaimed, 9 Parts of Desire, will open this month at Portland Center Stage at The Armory, starring Nora el Samahy.

Heather Raffo's critically acclaimed, 9 Parts of Desire, will open this March at Portland Center Stage at The Armory, starring Nora el Samahy. An intimate and complex examination of the extraordinary (and ordinary) lives of nine Iraqi women, this remarkable solo work offers a meditation on what it means to be a woman in a country overshadowed by war. Based on Raffo's interviews with real women during the reign and fall of Saddam Hussein, Raffo weaves nine utterly distinct voices into a tapestry of humanity, love, and endurance in the face of oppression.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its prestigious ReOrient 2019 Festival of Short Plays with seven fully produced short plays, two panel discussions, and a national convening of Middle Eastern theatre artists.

PlayGround concludes the 25th season of its celebrated Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series with a special evening of environmental-inspired plays as part of the 5th annual PLANET EARTH ARTS NEW PLAY FESTIVAL on Monday, April 1, 8 PM at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The topic for the April 1 program (rescheduled from the previously announced March 18 date) is "BORDERS, ISLANDS & WALLS". Members of the 2018-19 PlayGround Writers Company have just five days to generate their original ten-minute plays inspired by the topic. The top six scripts will each receive an hour-and-a-half rehearsal and a professional script-in-hand staged reading at Berkeley Rep on April 1.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, presents What Do the Women Say?: Roots & Reflections, its annual celebration of International Women's Day. Rarely do audiences have access to such a rich collection of creative expression by Middle Eastern women, whose portrayal in mainstream media remains one of victimhood and silence. This year's program showcases the work of leading Middle Eastern women artists at the crossroads of tradition and experimentation. With a lineup of acclaimed artists surveying their Middle Eastern cultures, the singular evening celebrates women who reject narrowly-defined stereotypes to take ownership of their creative processes and carve out their own innovative identities.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, presents a season of new work highlighting rarely seen perspectives. The 2019 mainstage season begins with the U.S. premiere of Palestinian-Irish playwright Hannah's Khalil's critically acclaimed Scenes from 71* Years (April 5 May 5, 2019). An epic snapshot of Palestinian life since 1948, Scenes is directed by celebrated Arab-American scholar Michael Malek Najjar and features Bay Area Palestinian actors in the nine-member cast.

PlayGround continues its 25th season of its celebrated Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series with the first 2019 Monday readings on Monday, January 21, 8 PM at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Roda Theatre. The topic for January's round, announced last Friday, is "ADAPT A FAIRY TALE". Members of the 2018-19 PlayGround Writers Company have just four-and-a-half days to generate their original ten-minute plays inspired by the topic. The top six scripts will each receive an hour-and-a-half rehearsal and a professional script-in-hand staged reading at Berkeley Rep on January 21. PlayGround writers in Los Angeles are working simultaneously on the same prompt and their finalists will be presented at Hollywood's Broadwater Mainstage (home of Sacred Fools Theatre Company) on January 14. Tickets are $15-$30 and 3-admission flex subscriptions are just $60 ($45 for 25-and-Unders). For tickets or more information, visit http://playground-sf.org/monday.