Thanks to you, Golden Thread’s 2024 Season for Palestine uplifted, honored and celebrated the talent, creativity, strength, and resilience of the Palestinian people in a rare and relevant collection of work that deeply impacted and profoundly resonated with our community.

Rare & Relevant Narratives

From seminal works to historical accounts to personal narratives, our 2024 season was full of stories about the enduring impact of political conflict and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people. Theatres in the U.S. rarely produce Palestinian plays and none to our knowledge has ever produced an entire season dedicated to them. Though the ongoing genocide, rooted in over 75 years of systemic oppression and violence against Palestinians, is sanctioned by the US administration, we are among the few theatres who have used our platform to counteract the negative and dehumanizing Palestinian narratives dominating U.S. culture and media.

Our West Coast premiere production of Returning to Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani, adapted for the stage by Naomi Wallace and Ismail Khalidi, brought one of the most important works in contemporary Palestinian literature to a totally sold-out audience at Potrero Stage. Additionally, our New Threads reading series featured the work of international Palestinian playwrights, including Raeda Taha’s Where Can I Find Someone Like You, Ali? and Hanna Eady and Edward Mast’s The Return.

We closed the season with a workshop production of Adam Ashraf Elsayigh’s new play ALAA: A Family Trilogy, commissioned by Golden Thread with generative dramaturgy by Salma S. Zohdi. Though not specifically a Palestinian story, the play is inspired by the life of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, arguably the most high-profile political prisoner in Egypt, and offers a timely and related examination of revolutionary resilience.

Unique and Ambitious Art in Community

Our annual Women’s Day event celebrated the joy and richness of Palestinian traditions and culture in a completely sold-out evening at the Brava Theater. What Do the Women Say?: Expressions of Joy, gathered over 20 Palestinian women artists across disciplines and borders, both in person and online, for International Women’s Day.

We pushed beyond the limits of convention to present 24 Hours for Palestine: A Moon Will Rise from Darkness. This 24-hour livestreamed event featured teach-ins, discussions, panels, music, poetry, and more from over a hundred activists and artists, reaching 1,700 viewers in 54 countries.

11 Reflections: San Francisco, devised and directed by Andrea Assaf, featured renowned Syrian opera singer Lubana Al Quntar, Turkish violinist Eylem Basaldi and a diverse ensemble of theater artists, community members, and musicians. This reflection on living in a post-9/11 world, connected all the way to the funding of genocide in Palestine, was presented in two episodic, multimedia performances.

Solidarity through Partnership

Over 22 organizations helped us produce, promote, present, and host this year’s programs. We teamed up with the Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Middle East Children’s Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Norcal Sabeel, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and Rainbow Grocery, who supported our production of Returning to Haifa with outreach and post-show talkbacks. Our No Summary digital conversation series featured Ashtar Theater of Ramallah, Al-Harah Theatre of Beit Jala, and El Hakawati Theatre of Jerusalem. We partnered with Brava Theater and Art2Action in collaboration with Aviva Arts and Red Poppy Art House to produce 11Reflections: San Francisco, with Brava and WomenArts for our Women’s Day event, and with Z Space for our workshop production of ALAA: A Family Trilogy. Our 24 Hour Marathon for Palestine, hosted by HowlRound Theatre Commons, was co-produced with Art2Action in partnership with the MENA Theatre-Makers Alliance (MENATMA), Ashtar Theatre, The Freedom Theatre, Zoukak Theatre Company, Noor Theatre, Donkeysaddle Projects, and Dunya Productions.

An Engaged and Growing Community

Countless individuals supported the 2024 season including a 10-member Community Council made up of Palestinian, Jewish, Arab, MENA and other community members who acted as ambassadors, connecting us across multiple audiences. Evren Odcikin returned this year as our 2024-25 Artist in Residence. We also brought on a new Managing Director, Wynne Chan, and a new Artistic Producer, Salim Razawi. Mona Masri who recently joined our board, also led this year’s fundraising campaign for Returning of Haifa, along with Jumana Muwafi and Hassan Fouda.

2025 Season: Threads of Solidarity

Our new season aims to illuminate the interconnectedness of our struggles, amplifying Palestinian, Armenian, and Afghan stories. Through a diverse collection of personal and historical narratives, this season, we honor the strength of those who have endured, who are still fighting, and the voices that refuse to be silenced. Featuring bold world-premiere works by women-identifying artists and fostering both local and national collaborations, we ask you to join us in a new season of community and solidarity.