Building Forward

2022 was a special year filled with surprising and rare stories from new, emerging, and established artists. With your support, we leapt enthusiastically into Golden Thread’s new era and achieved many heights!

The New Era has Begun

We returned to full, in-person programming, after our first-ever leadership transition, with Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf’s incredible first season.

A Season of Firsts

We produced Adam Ashraf Elsayigh’s very first play, which featured our new Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf’s directorial debut at Golden Thread, and introduced celebrated Iranian playwright Naghmeh Samini in her U.S. premiere. We commissioned a new play and helped develop the work of artists exploring home, traveling on epic journeys, and searching to find their true selves.

So Many Rare Gems

We uplifted a rare queer MENA narrative about an important historical event in Adam Ashraf Elsayigh’s Drowning in Cairo, a contemporary Iranian story about love and marriage with a surprising twist in Naghmeh Samini’s The Language of Wild Berries, and the beloved tale of Nasrudin’s mischief and morality from the Muslim world written by Torange Yeghiazarian, directed by Sarah Al Kassab.

We Went on the Road

The Golden Thread Fairytale Players returned to Bay Area schools and libraries, our New Threads Staged Reading Series traveled to Brava Theater, ZSpace, and the Potrero Stage, and Adam Ashraf Elsayigh’s Drowning in Cairo went all the way to The Lab at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

More Screen Time

We livestreamed our What Do the Women Say? program with virtual and in-person artists and audiences, offered a Video-on-demand version of both mainstage productions, and our digital No Summary artist conversation series appeared on Facebook, Howlround.tv and as part of the 2022 MENATMA (MENA Theater Makers Alliance) Convening

Our 2023 season will emphasize our commitment to uplift one another by exploring ways to connect, cope, and be moved to make change. Join us as we look for comfort in comic relief, seek unity in collaboration, and find inspiration in the stories of those fighting for justice and equality. Make your contribution today!