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About Golden Thread Productions

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.

“[Golden Thread is] the fountain-head of Middle Eastern-American theatre and the generative force behind this major and growing new voice in American Theatre. ”

– Theatre Communications Group

“[Golden Thread] provides, in addition to a dependable variety of aesthetic pleasures, crucial space for public consideration and dialogue. ”

– San Francisco Bay Guardian

“At a time when the Middle East dominates the headlines, [Golden Thread] aspires to forge clarity out of chaos and incites us to look past the 24/7 media blitz. ”

– San Jose Mercury News

We believe that immersing yourself in someone else’s experience is the best way to appreciate their point of view. Therefore, every play serves as an invitation to discover unexpected connections and engage in deeply moving conversations that last well beyond the life of the play.

Our programs expose non-Middle Eastern audiences to the authentic voices and alternative perspectives of the region, while serving Middle Eastern audiences who rarely encounter meaningful reflections of their own culture in the performing arts.

Our Guiding Principles are to:

  • Develop and produce innovative works that intrigue, inquire, and influence.
  • Engage the community in an active dialogue and draw diverse audiences.
  • Discover, develop, and support Middle Eastern artists.
  • Promote the rich texts and diverse performance styles of the Middle East.
  • Seek and include the many talents of our diverse communities in the production of socially conscious works with a progressive political sensibility.

In our vast imagination, the Middle East is defined not by geographical boundaries and political separations, but as the shared experience of the people, who throughout history have been touched by its stories and culture. As such, Golden Thread’s work is borderless and serves to reorient the United States-Middle East relationship.


Audience

For more than 20 years, Golden Thread has created artistic excellence with plays that defy stereotypes, and engage diverse communities. Golden Thread has served over 50,000 audience members, premiered more than 100 new plays, including seven plays for young audiences, and has employed more than 1,000 artists, many from underrepresented communities.

With 32% of our audience self-identifying as Middle Eastern, Golden Thread provides a stirring forum for Middle Eastern and non-Middle Eastern communities and a supportive environment in which different Middle Eastern communities can interact. The average age of our audience is 49; 67% are female, 89% are college-educated, and 21% identify as LGBTQ. In addition, Golden Thread Fairytale Players annually reach 5,000 youth and families around the Bay Area.


The Basics

We define “Middle East” and “Middle Eastern” broadly and inclusively, and embrace the multiplicity of ethnic and religious identities that span Southwest Asia, North Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, parts of Mediterranean Europe, and our Diaspora communities. We understand our respective backgrounds in terms of rich pluralism and interconnectedness. We also define “America” and “American” in the broadest possible ways to include the continents of North and South America.

Furthermore, at this time in history, it’s important that we include American Muslims, of all cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds, as members of our Middle Eastern American communities.

Awards

Golden Thread has been recognized in twice by American Theatre Wing, the producers of the Tony Awards, by the City of San Francisco in honor of our 20th anniversary, and was featured in the ABC 7 Bay Area‘s Profiles of Excellence.

Artistic director, Torange Yeghiazarian has been recognized by Theatre Bay Area and is one of Theatre Communication Group’s Legacy Leaders of Color. She was honored by the Cairo International Theatre Festival (2016) and the Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry at Stanford University (2017).

Golden Thread Productions

1695 18th Street, #C101
San Francisco, CA 94107
The ancestral lands of the Ramaytush Ohlone

boxoffice@goldenthread.org
information@goldenthread.org
Phone: 415.626.4061

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