Yussef El Guindi News

Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling continues the Wilma Theater's 2016-17 season. A fish falls from the sky in the year 2039. A man named Gabriel prepares to meet his adult son after being estranged for twenty years. He wonders why his son is coming and what he wants: to know who he is? Where he comes from? Where he belongs? Gabriel knows nothing; his own past escapes him. As the story of Gabriel's family unfolds onstage, his ancestors come alive around him to fill in the gaps. With its web of intricately overlapping connections, When the Rain Stops Falling follows four generations of a family from 1959 to 2039, and from London to Australia. As this family and their world evolve over time, one question remains: in the face of climate change, can we break our habits and change the way we live?

Artists Repertory Theatre begins its 2016/17 season with TREVOR, a tragicomedy from Orange Is the New Black writer, Nick Jones. The play features John San Nicolas as the chimp, Trevor, and Sarah Lucht as his "mom," Sandra. This is the first play of seven in Artists Rep's 34th season.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company to focus on the Middle East, continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the West Coast premiere of Yussef El Guindi's humorous and hard-hitting Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat, directed by Founding Artistic Director Torange Yeghiazarian. In this juicy denunciation of the mainstream media machine, struggling writer Gamal hates the way his fellow Arab-Americans represent their culture on American media.

Artists Repertory Theatre launches the final phase of awarding the Oregon Play Prize today by inviting the public to choose the winning script by open vote. From 131 plays submitted since November, the public will choose which of three finalists to  they want to see Artists Rep develop and produce. The voting poll, descriptions and samples of the finalist plays are posted on the Oregon Play Prize webpage.  The plays will be voted on by merit of the script and voter interest alone; to this end the playwrights' names are not included.  Voting begins immediately and will end on September 15. The Oregon Play Prize winner will be announced on September 21, 2016.

San Francisco's cutting-edge and highly acclaimed experimentalCutting Ball Theater kicks off its 18th season with Avant GardARAMA! an all-in-one performance festival of seven short experimental plays showcasing the work of Bay Area directors. One of these short plays, a winning submission from a Cutting Ball Theater writer's workshop, is penned by a 16 year old student from San Francisco's celebrated Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and directed by one of his instructors. Avant GardARAMA! runs October 5 - 23 at Cutting Ball's venue at the EXIT on Taylor (located at 277 Taylor Street at Ellis). Preview is October 5, Press Night is October 6, and Gala Opening Night is October 7. Tickets for all performances through October 23, ranging in price from $15 to $60, are on sale now at cuttingball.com or by calling 415-525-1205.

Artists Repertory Theatre has extended three play commissions, as part of the company's ambitious new play development program Table|Room|Stage (T|R|S), to Linda Alper, Larissa FastHorse and Andrea Stolowitz.

American Theater Company (ATC) announces the third year of AracaWorks: Chicago, a play development workshop in partnership with New York's The Araca Group, Broadway producers of Disgraced, Urinetown, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, The Wedding Singer, Lend Me a Tenor and A View from the Bridge. The program gives three playwrights a weeklong development opportunity at ATC, culminating in a series of readings that for the first time will be open to the public.

Todd Michael Isaac and Mike Traylor deliver riveting and captivating performances as two hostages, isolated in a sterile cell and united only by their shared Kafkaesque despair, in iTheatre Collaborative's gripping and compelling production of Yussef El Guindi's HOSTAGES.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company to focus on the Middle East, continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the world premiere of the poetic and heartwarming The Most Dangerous Highway in the World by Kevin Artigue, directed by Evren Odcikin, Director of Marketing and New Plays.

Macha Monkey Productions presents the world premiere of The Collaborator by award-winning playwright Yussef El Guindi, directed by Anita Montgomery and featuring Hayley Guthrie, April 29th through May 14th.

Apollinaire Theatre Company presents THREESOME by Yussef El Guindi, directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques and featuring Alison Meirowitz, Mauro Canepa and Geoff Van Wyck.

Apollinaire Theatre Company presents THREESOME by Yussef El Guindi, directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques and featuring Alison Meirowitz, Mauro Canepa and Geoff Van Wyck.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company to focus on the Middle East, continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the world premiere of the poetic and heartwarming The Most Dangerous Highway in the World by Kevin Artigue, directed by Evren Odcikin, Director of Marketing and New Plays.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company to focus on the Middle East, celebrates its 20th anniversary, and has announced a season of new plays and special events that celebrates its legacy and showcases the company's groundbreaking vision for the future. The season includes the West Coast premiere of Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat by award-winning playwright Yussef El Guindi, the most produced writer in Golden Thread history (directed by Founding Artistic Director Torange Yeghiazarian, October 28-November 20, 2016), and the world premiere of The Most Dangerous Highway in the World by Kevin Artigue, the first playwright of non-Middle Eastern descent produced on the company's mainstage (directed by Director of Marketing and New Plays Evren Odcikin, May 5-29, 2016). Both plays will be presented at the Thick House in San Francisco. New Threads staged reading series returns in June and July of 2016, introducing four singular voices to the Bay Area: Tariq Hamami, Ken Kaissar, Hannah Khalil, and Novid Parsi. Golden Thread's annual celebration of International Women's Day, What Do the Women Say?, returns on March 12, 2016 to the La Peña Cultural Center. This year's program features four Bay Area women artists who have built a stronger Middle Eastern community through their art: Taraneh Hemami, Nabila Mango, Sharlyn Sawyer, and Betty Shamieh, and will include a musical performance by Aswat Women's Choir. Golden Thread Fairytale Players continues to tour Bay Area schools and libraries throughout the year, presenting dynamic and colorful plays for all ages inspired by Middle Eastern folktales. The year will culminate in a 20th Anniversary Celebration Event to be announced. Find out more about Golden Thread and its 20th Anniversary season at goldenthread.org.

Golden Thread Productions returns with its annual celebration of International Women's Day, What Do the Women Say? on Saturday, March 12, at 8pm at La Peña Cultural Center (3105 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley). This year's program is a celebration of pioneering Bay Area women artists who have built community through their art.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's Executive Director Carlo Scandiuzzi and Chair of the Board of Trustees Chuck Sitkin are pleased to announce that Becky Witmer has been promoted to Managing Director. Witmer previously served as ACT's General Manager and Director of Marketing and Communications. She will work with the staff and board to continue ACT's success in developing audiences, raising funds, and overseeing the daily operations of the theatre. Witmer signed a two-year contract in 2016 and now reports to the Board of Trustees.

Artists Repertory Theatre announces a stylistically diverse season of seven imaginative and entertaining plays that grapple with family and the pursuit of happiness. The season features one World Premiere commissioned by Artists Rep's new play development program Table|Room|Stage, along with five Northwest Premieres (including a musical) by some of the best emerging contemporary playwrights in the country, and one re-imagined classic featuring an all-female cast. The 2016/17 selections emphasize the aesthetic and scope of work Artists Rep has been committed to producing for almost 35 years as Portland's premiere mid-size regional theatre.

As part of its 75th Anniversary Season, the University of Washington School of Drama is hosting a New Play Workshop Series with the goals of championing new and diverse voices in both the regional and national theatre community.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre was recently awarded $35,000 for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works Award to support the development of the medieval Japanese epic Tale of the Heike, slated for production in 2017. The thirteenth-century epic is about two clans fighting for control of Japan. It will be directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Kurt Beattie and will combine dance, puppetry, and mask work to tell the story. It is currently being co-adapted by notable playwrights Philip Kan Gotanda and Yussef El Guindi.

Tom Stoppard's first new play since Rock 'n' Roll introduces us to Hilary, a 22-year-old psychology student applying for a coveted position with the Krohl Institute for Brain Science. As Hilary prays for strength to move beyond personal regrets, she passionately explores the blurred lines between science and psychology with her colleagues and her sometimes-lover Spike. Ethics are called into question as they delve into the 'hard problem' of consciousness versus gray matter, and debate whether altruism even exists. Following a sold-out run at the National Theatre in London, the Wilma-'America's foremost interpreter of the playwright's work' (Philadelphia Magazine)-is proud to be among the first to bring The Hard Problem to U.S. audiences.