Yussef El Guindi News

It's been a helluva year for theater in the Seattle area. From the triumphant return of the Intiman with their summer festival to the hugely popular run of "Spring Awakening" from Balagan Theatre Seattle audiences were treated with some amazing shows and performances this past year. And so, allow me to shine the spotlight on some of my favorite outstanding moments from the past year with my 2012 BWW Seattle Critic's Choice Awards.

Featuring voices from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, England, and the U.S., Golden Thread's ReOrient 2012 Festival and Forum once again promises to turn San Francisco into a Mecca for innovative, spirited, and thought-provoking theatre from and about the Middle East. The ReOrient 2012 plays are diverse in style and content from writers with remarkably different backgrounds. The playwrights include MacArthur "Genius" Award winner Naomi Wallace, Middle East America Award winner and recipient of 2012 Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Circle Best New Play Award Yussef El Guindi, leading modernist Egyptian playwright Tawfiq al-Hakim, winner of the William Saroyan Prize Silva Semerciyan, and local writers Elizabeth Benedict and Farzam Farrokhi. ReOrient 2012 performs in two series: Series A runs today, November 1-18, 2012 at Noh Space (2840 Mariposa St., San Francisco) and Series B runs for only two special performances November 16 and 17, 2012, at Z Space (450 Florida Street, San Francisco). Tickets for the festival are $20 (discounts available) and can be purchased at goldenthread.org.

On the chance that you only read the first few sentences of my review of "Ramayana", currently playing at ACT, let me just say this right at the start. Go see this show! Hire the babysitter, arrive early (to catch the awesome Indian bazaar in the lobby), and prepare yourself for one of the most glorious and magical evenings I've had in the theater for quite awhile as ACT Theatre presents an exquisite and epic tale that mesmerizes from beginning to end.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre has announced its Fall and Winter calendar, including its biggest party of the year: Wanderlust - ACT's Night of Adventure and Annual Gala just in time to kick off the autumnal season. The rest of the calendar rounds out the year with a plethora of exciting new theatrical events including Central Heating Lab projects, the season's finale production of Ramayana, and ACT's holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre has announced its Fall and Winter calendar, including its biggest party of the year: Wanderlust - ACT's Night of Adventure and Annual Gala just in time to kick off the autumnal season. The rest of the calendar rounds out the year with a plethora of exciting new theatrical events including Central Heating Lab projects, the season's finale production of Ramayana, and ACT's holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol.

Featuring voices from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, England, and the U.S., Golden Thread's ReOrient 2012 Festival and Forum once again promises to turn San Francisco into a Mecca for innovative, spirited, and thought-provoking theatre from and about the Middle East. The ReOrient 2012 plays are diverse in style and content from writers with remarkably different backgrounds. The playwrights include MacArthur "Genius" Award winner Naomi Wallace, Middle East America Award winner and recipient of 2012 Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Circle Best New Play Award Yussef El Guindi, leading modernist Egyptian playwright Tawfiq al-Hakim, winner of the William Saroyan Prize Silva Semerciyan, and local writers Elizabeth Benedict and Farzam Farrokhi. ReOrient 2012 performs in two series: Series A runs November 1-18, 2012 at Noh Space (2840 Mariposa St., San Francisco) and Series B runs for only two special performances November 16 and 17, 2012, at Z Space (450 Florida Street, San Francisco). Tickets for the festival are $20 (discounts available) and can be purchased at goldenthread.org.

The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN),the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, has selected Sacramento's CAPITAL STAGE for associate membership. This action makes the seven-year old professional theatre company the first in the Capitol region to become affiliated with the highly regarding NNPN.

Victory Gardens Theater Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Jan Kallish announce the new plays selected for the company's 2012 IGNITION Festival. The selected plays are: Seven Spots on the Sun by Martin Zimmerman; The Shotgun Message by A. Rey Pamatmat; Samsara by Lauren Yee; Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Dr. Ali Goes Native by Yussef El Guindi. VG Playwrights Ensemble Member Marcus Gardley will join the selected group as a Playwright-in-Residence. Gardley will spend his time researching and drafting his upcoming play Chicago is Burning.

THE MUMMY AND THE REVOLUTION centers around 'an Egyptian revolutionary, an American collector of antiquities, and a reanimated mummy - just three of the characters in this sexy, slap sticky romp where ideological opposites attract and the 'new' Middle East is never too far from the same old same old. A comedic gem from the writer who brought the acclaimed plays Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, Back of the Throat, and Our Enemies to Silk Road Rising audiences.'

Silk Road Rising co-founders, Artistic Director Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani, have announced three staged readings for Summer 2012: Danny Bernardo's Mahal, Yussef Guindi's The Mummy and The Revolution, and Shane Sakhrani's The Doctor is Indian. All three staged readings will be presented in the company's venue in Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building at 77 W. Washington St. in Chicago. Tickets are $5.00 for each reading.

Noor Theatre announces a general call for submissions of new plays by writers of Middle-Eastern descent. Submissions will be considered for upcoming programming including the fall reading series, Highlight, as well as possible special events, workshops and commissions.

The Seattle Times has officially announced the winners of their 2011 Footlight Awards. Featured amoungst this year's winners are such favorites as Mike Daisey, Carolee Carmello, and many more! The full list of 2011 winners is as follows:

It's almost over! There's just THREE days of voting remaining for the 2011 Seattle Awards and here is the latest update! Have you voted yet, and helped to spread the word to support your favorites in the hopes that they will be the recipients of a 2011 BroadwayWorld Seattle Award? There is no time to waste, click on the voting link and make your opinion count! Below are the stats so far as of Monday December 26, 2011. Voting ends at midnight on 12/31 so time is running out.

BroadwayWorld.com is excited to share a weekly series developed by the Theatre Communications Group! This week actor and playwright Torange Yeghiazarian shares pivotal moments in her theatre career and why the arts matter to her!

There is no time to waste, click on the voting link and make your opinion count! Below are the stats so far. Voting ends at midnight on 12/31 so time is running out. Click Here to Vote Now!...

Noor Theatre's second-annual HIGHLIGHT reading series concludes with Baba, written and performed by Denmo Ibrahim and directed by Isis Saratial Misdary.

Noor Theatre's second-annual HIGHLIGHT reading series concludes with Baba, written and performed by Denmo Ibrahim and directed by Isis Saratial Misdary.

There's just 4 weeks left to go in voting for the 2011 Seattle Awards and here is the latest update! Have you voted yet, and helped to spread the word to support your favorites in the hopes that they will be the recipients of a 2011 BroadwayWorld Seattle Award? There is no time to waste, click on the voting link and make your opinion count! Below are the stats so far as of Tuesday November 29, 2011.

Voting is now well underway for the 2011 Seattle Awards and here is the latest update! Now, it's time for you to get out and vote for your favorites in the hopes that they will be the recipients of a 2011 BroadwayWorld Seattle Award. No time to waste, click on the voting link and make your opinion count! Below are the stats so far as of Monday November 23, 2011.

Noor Theatre's second-annual HIGHLIGHT reading series continues with The Strangest by Betty Shamieh and directed by May Adrales on Monday, November 14th at 7:30pm at The Fourth Street Theatre in New York City.