Interview: Alaudin Ullah Discusses Creating and Performing DISHWASHER DREAMS Now Playing at The Old Globe

In DISHWASHER DREAMS, Alaudin Ullah has brought his one-man show about his family and his life growing up as a first-generation American to The Old Globe. Stand-up comedian, playwright, and performer, Alaudin took some time between performances to chat about creating and performing this piece, and his excitement to switch from stand-up audiences to a theatre audience. DISHWASHER DREAMS is playing through October 15th.

Alaudin Ullah is a New Yorker, with a love of baseball and Reggie Jackson so deep it can only come from growing up there.  He fell in love with movies and performing, and became a stand-up comic performing on television as well as touring to perform for live audiences.  He also created a comic sanctuary at the cabaret Don’t Tell Mama with his show “Colorblind”, which became a space to directly combat the prejudices built into more traditional stand-up clubs.

When he got to Los Angeles and started auditioning for acting roles he was confronted with the reality that for his roles they were looking more for caricatures than characters. Alaudin says the combination of these experiences, as well as seeing Ruben Santiago Hudson’s LACKAWANNA BLUES, gave him the inspiration to write and perform DISHWASHER DREAMS.

LACKAWANNA BLUES ignited a fire within me, a burnin’ desire to birth a show that would bring forth the struggles, the resilience of my family, of people who have been fightin’ to find their place in a world that often shuns the different, the unfamiliar.

I yearn for the world to feel our pulse, to know that our roots run deep in the soil of this land we call America, and our battles, our joys, our sorrows—they are symphonies that ought to be heard, and revered. We haven't been represented in theater, film, or tv and it's high time we get to tell our stories with nuance and depth. We’ve been here, we’ve been vibratin’ with life, carvin’ out our existence, and it’s high time our tales be intertwined with the chronicles of this nation, be acknowledged as part of the boundless, multifaceted human experience.” I want audiences to feel like we are human instead of caricatures we have been reduced to on film and mass media with the "Muslim is the boogie man formula." As a writer/performer my approach, my mission to counter the misperception people have of South Asians and Muslims. I want audiences to see I'm a prototype and not a stereotype. 

Creating this play, which chronicles his parent's story of coming to the United States and building a family and life here, allows him to bring this specific life experience to theatre audiences.  Theatre audiences are different than stand-up audiences in many ways, but one major difference is the diversity of the audiences between the two.  Alaudin hopes that this story doesn’t just entertain but also helps audiences experience something outside of their norm, while also recognizing similarities in the story of a family and how your understanding of your parents changes as you grow older.

 I'm a funny guy but I wanted to be honest about my parent's journey as an immigrant and how after years of rebelling against them I discovered the connection to them.  In this shared space, against the backdrop of a world tainted by Islamophobia, xenophobia, and homophobia, the immigrant’s story emerges as a melody that demands to be heard, a counterpoint to the relentless symphony of hate. My performance invites the audience into the dance of the immigrant, allowing them to feel the pulse, the heartbeat of their stories in this proclaimed land of the free, home of the brave. 

I think white audiences are inevitably moved and enlightened. People of color always stand up and cheer and have a feeling of belonging, they are connected because they are not being heard. The rhythm, the shared melodies—they awaken the souls in the audience, and the people of color, they rise, finding their rhythm in the collective symphony.  I can feel that connection to them because I want all people who are marginalized in America to know that they are not alone. 

The transition from stand-up audiences also presented a performing opportunity that Alaudin was excited to embrace - an audience who is there for the entire plot and not just the punchline.

There is nothing like performing in the round. It's a magical space.  That is the beauty of live performance. That audience is bearing witness and that's what I live for. I want audiences to feel the joy AND the pain.  I think in theater you can jump off a cliff and audiences will go with you to whatever magical place you want to go. I'm addicted to that kind of energy,  that kind of limitless pursuit of truth with depth in performance.

It also allowed Alaudin to write the kind of roles he was looking for, more nuanced and real, and not playing into a stereotype.  DISHWASHER DREAMS came about from his desire to talk about what he learned and experienced working on a film he made about his parents called “In Search of Bengali Harlem” which premieres on PBS this December.

This play is about what I felt, that transformative feeling of this connection to my parents after I made that film. Both of them have passed since then and I thought, “Well I love performing but I want to do something more than stand up.” I felt this show was the best way to tell that story and honor the sacrifices they made for me and a generation of immigrants who paved the way for us to have a better life. I wasn't able to thank them in person while they were alive,  but I get to honor them onstage every night in this play. That's my way of showing gratitude. 

It would be remiss to not mention the amazing live Tabla music by Avirodh Sharma which accompanies the piece.  Noting the delta blues as intrinsic to LACKAWANNA BLUES, Ullah wanted to incorporate something similar to DISHWASHER DREAMS.

Tabla is an instrument that evokes the sound of the motherland of South Asia. I wanted the audience to feel this emotional journey and not just have a performer on stage but also a sound that brings them to Bangladesh as well as New York. The tabla enhances each scene as it marinates the highs and lows of each scene along with some funky sound effects.  I wanted something original and there is no play in American Theater that has the sound this play has.

 Avirodh is a special person and a special musician. The sound of the Tabla is the perfect fit for this show that moves from locations of New York to Bangladesh and to Hollywood. That instrument helps us land in the world of this play. 

Alaudin hopes that audiences come to the show and walk away not just entertained but also enlightened, empathetic, and moved to have experienced this show about people they may not have known or interacted with before.

The arts can make you look out of a window you may not have looked out before. With DISHWASHER DREAMS I want to give them some insight into what the laborer, the immigrant, and the struggling comedian have to endure. I want them to feel that resilience which is something we take for granted because we don't see them behind closed doors. I'm hoping  I can give that honest depiction in order to humanize the people who have been marginalized as well as invisible.   

How To Get Tickets

DISHWASHER DREAMS is playing through October 15th at The Old Globe. For ticket and show time information go to www.theoldglobe.org 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Rich Soublet II

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