New Threads 2018 Introduces Four New Plays From Or About The Middle East

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 Vi?niec. 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.

The series launches on June 5 with Drowning in Cairo by Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, directed by Kal Naga, which follows three Egyptian men caught up in the 2001 Queen Boat incident where 52 men were jailed for attending a gay nightclub. On June 12 is Fog by Edessa Tailo, directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh, which looks at three 20-somethings trying to make it in San Francisco's cutthroat tech culture. On June 19 comes Field, Awakening by Melis Aker, directed by Evren Odcikin, dramatizing an unexpected reunion amongst four friends on the night of the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey. The series concludes with Matei Visniec's Migraaaants, translated by Nick Awde, and adapted and directed by Nima Dehghani on June 26. Presented in association with Crowded Fire Theater Company, Migraaants is a dark, absurd, and surprisingly funny collage that delves into the refugee crisis in Europe and beyond.

"I am struck by the diversity of artists, styles, and stories featured in this year's New Threads series," says Evren Odcikin, Golden Thread's Director of New Plays, who produces the annual festival. "Each writer possesses a unique voice and perspective, and is matched with a director who brings a deep understanding of the world of their play." Odcikin adds: "What's especially moving is the way these plays center characters facing huge cultural and political shifts with strength, humor, and grace. Whether it be three queer men in Egypt, a hyphenated American millennial trying to make it in San Francisco, a Turkish-American young woman caught in a homeland in crisis, or migrants willing to risk it all for the safety of their kids, these are stories that must be told now, and I am proud that we are able to give them a platform at Golden Thread!"

New Threads 2018 is made possible partially by a generous grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation. Golden Thread thanks Brava! For Women in the Arts for supporting this year's New Threads staged reading series and the work of many local artists and community groups.

Golden Thread Productions, founded in 1996, is the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East. We produce passionate and provocative plays from or about the Middle East that celebrate the multiplicity of its perspectives and identities. We are a developmental catalyst and vibrant artistic home to artists at various stages of their career. We bring the Middle East to the American stage, creating treasured cultural experiences for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. goldenthread.org.

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