Arab Spring

Denmo Ibrahim

Denmo Ibrahim (she/her) is an American playwright, actor, and theatre maker of Egyptian descent. She is the recipient of the Legacy Playwright Award from Advance Gender Equity in the Arts and was shortlisted for the 2025 Princess Grace Award. Her plays include Arab Spring (Finalist: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Rainin Fellowship), BABA (Winner: Theatre Bay Area “Best Original Script”; SFBATCC “Best New Play” & “Best Solo Show”), The Weight of an Orange (The Playwrights’ Revolution, Capital Stage) and Naguib Mahfuz Was Stabbed in the Neck and Almost Died (Finalist: Sundance Theatre Lab). Her children’s book Zaynab’s Night of Destiny, an audio immersive experience for young audiences, toured throughout Kentucky public schools and was supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts.

Denmo’s creative work has been produced and developed by Audible, Round House Theatre, Williamston Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Noor Theatre, The Civilians R&D Series, Amphibian Stage, Alter Theatre, Shotgun Players, Golden Thread, and Crowded Fire.

As an educator, she has led workshops in storytelling and ensemble devised theatre at Harvard University, University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and LOYAC in Kuwait. She currently serves as Chair of the MENA Theatre Makers Alliance (MENATMA), a national coalition advancing visibility and equity for SWANA artists. Denmo holds an MFA from Naropa University and a BFA from Boston University. denmoibrahim.com

Nailah Unole didanas'ea Harper-Malveaux

Nailah Unole didanas’ea Harper-Malveaux (she/her) is a queer multiracial theater director and producer. Directing highlights include: the rolling world premiere of Haunted by Tara Moses (Cleveland Public Theatre), the West Coast premiere of The Last of the Love Letters by Ngozi Anyanwu and Edit Annie by Mary Glen Fredrick (Crowded Fire), the world premiere of Getting There by Dipika Guha (NCTC), and The Light by Loy A. Webb (Shotgun Players). She serves as the Leader of Artistic Curation at Crowded Fire Theater. She has worked as a freelance artist at Cleveland Public Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown Theater Festival, Berkeley Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Z Space, and American Conservatory Theater. She received her B.A. in American Studies and Theatre Studies from Yale University.

Arti Ishak*

Arti Ishak (they/them) is a Chicago actor/writer/director whose work centers on Queer, Muslim, and multicultural stories. Select Credits TV: Southside (HBO); Dark Matter (Apple TV); Chicago Med (NBC). Theatre: Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno, The Best Decision You’ve Ever Made (The Second City); Witch, Buried Child (Writers), Venus in Fur (Circle). Directing credits include short films Shukran Bas (Means of Productions), ba la (HF Productions), HALF (ZAXIE), and upcoming short Divorce Party. Arti is a senior instructor at Black Box Acting and Adjunct Professor at The Theatre School at DePaul. @artiishak www.artiishak.com

Salim Razawi*

Salim Razawi (he/him) is a theatre maker and, in addition to being the Artistic Producer and Casting Director at Golden Thread, serves as the casting director at Shotgun Players. He has supported casting and consulting across the Bay Area including Marin Shakespeare Festival, the Casting Collective, Aurora Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, Ray of Light, Town Hall Theatre, Las Positas College, and others. Select directing credits include Once on This Island (Contra Costa Civic Theatre & Plethos Productions), The Shape of Things and Mean Girls (City of Milpitas), amongst others. Previous acting credits include The Play That Goes Wrong at SF Playhouse, Disgraced at San Jose Stage Company, and Twelfth Night at Marin Shakespeare Company. He is thrilled to be revising this script after participating in the workshop with Playwrights Foundation.

Mikiko Uesugi

Mikiko Uesugi (she/her) has designed Cuckoo Edible Magic and Sign My Name to Freedom for SFBATCO, and several productions for Golden Thread including Pilgrimage, Drowning in Cairo, Our Enemies, Language Rooms and Night Over Erzinga. She has also designed for Word for Word, Aurora Theater Company, Shotgun Players, Magic Theater, among others. She is a resident artist at Golden Thread, a recipient of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers.

Sinjin Jones

Sinjin Jones (he/him) is a storytelling artist from Denver, Colorado. He founded both Otherworld Collective, a multimedia artists collective, and Perplexity Pictures, a story driven film production company. After moving to the Bay Area, he was the Executive Artistic Director of The Pear Theatre and is founder of Foundry of Aether, an immersive storytelling project. In addition to his work with SVCreates, he is currently an independent arts consultant and artist in the Bay Area. Favorite productions include: directing Once on This Island; Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea; Sunset Baby; and Infinite Black Suitcase and lighting design for Azad, The Agitators; Chaplin and Keaton on the Set of Limelight; and The Last Five Years.

Michael Kelly

Michael Kelly (he/him) is an audio specialist, with works appearing across the Bay and internationally. He headed the audio department for multiple seasons at Cal Shakes and serves as the sound supervisor now at Shotgun Players, most recently designing Sunday In The Park With George. Other stages of note: Stanford, UC Berkeley, Marin Shakespeare, Oakland Theater Project, Town Hall, Teatro de las Tias, Cutting Ball, Playground, Ferocious Lotus, SF Shakes, and Marin Theatre Company. linktr.ee/spy_hapa

Buffy

Buffy is filmmaker and artist from the Bay Area. In addition to personal creative goals, Buffy is eager about supporting others in their work, and resistance. Buffy has collaborated on Collective Rage at Shotgun Players; Do You Feel Anger at Marin Theatre; Azad, the Rabbit and the Wolf, as well as The Pilgrimage at Golden Thread Productions.

Heidi Button

Heidi Button recently received her BA from San Francisco State, also serving as Interim Props Department Coordinator for spring 2024. Recent credits include designing props for Nollywood Dreams at San Francisco Playhouse, and In The Evening By The Moonlight for the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Company. In a former life, Heidi lived in France 8 years as an aerialist, and spent 9 years at SF Circus Center doing circus production. Spring 2020, she co-directed Circus Center’s Youth Program.

Laura Brueckner

Laura Brueckner (she/her) is a Bay Area-based dramaturg specializing in new work, immersive theatre, and experimental pieces. She’s thrilled to be working with Golden Thread, SFBATCO, and this creative team on this incredibly special play.

Lauren Quan

Lauren is a Bay Area based stage manager. She has stage managed for various local theaters, including Magic Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, and of course, the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company. She is always eager to connect with new people.

Ella Watkins

Ella Watkins is delighted to be working on her first show with Golden Thread and SFBATCO. Previously, she was a Stage Management Intern at Broadway at Music Circus in Sacramento, working on Hello, Dolly! and In the Heights. Other than that, she has worked on shows at her high school and college. She is currently working towards her BA in Theatre Arts at San Francisco State University.

River Bermudez-Sanders

River Bermudez-Sanders (they/them) is proud to support this co-production between two of the most exciting and innovative companies in the Bay! They are is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist with credits from companies throughout the region, including San Francisco Playhouse, Oakland Theatre Project, Berkeley Playhouse, and more. Some recent projects include Hillbarn Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong (Trevor), Crowded Fire Theatre’s limp wrist on the lever (Charli), and Theatre Rhinoceros’s The Laramie Project (co-director with Elio Amador).

Lev Collins

Lev Collins (he/him) is thrilled to help bring Arab Spring to life. He loves all aspects of scenic creation and has worked as a freelance technical director, scenic painter, and scenic carpenter, including technical directing Returning to Haifa for Golden Threads in 2024. In addition to his freelance work, Lev is a full-time scenic carpenter at Cal Scenic, where he helps build sets for theaters both locally and across the U.S., including A.C.T., Center REP, and Shotgun Players.

Landyn Endo

Landyn Endo is a queer, trans Japanese-American fight choreographer, acrobat, actor, and stuntman. He has performed in Europe with DTM2 Improvisational Ensemble, Off-Broadway in NYC, and in Japan in Dreaming Forward, an artistic collaboration with choreographer Motoko Hirayama. Check out his new show Box M in July with Crowded Fire. Landyn is a proud member of Flying Rabbit Circus and People’s Circus Theatre, and teaches at Circus Center and VRV3. Find him on IG @smooth_landyn

Emrin Vasquez

Emrin Vasquez (she/her) is thrilled to be a part of her first SFBATCO production. She is a graduating senior of San Mateo High School and is committed to SUNY Purchase in the Fall.