IN ASSOCIATION WITH TURTLE KEY ARTS AND AIK PRODUCTIONS
Love, Bombs, and Apples
by Hassan Abdulrazzak
The critically-acclaimed production makes its U.S. debut after two sold-out runs in London
A Palestinian actor learns there’s more to English girls than pure sex appeal. A Pakistani-born terror suspect figures out what’s wrong with his first novel. A British youth suspects all is not what it seems with his object of desire. A New Yorker asks his girlfriend for a sexual favor at the worst possible time. Love, Bombs & Apples is the comic tale of four men, each from different parts of the globe, all experiencing a moment of revelation.
April 19, 2018 - May 6, 2018
Potrero Stage
1695 18th Street, San Francisco
Written by Hassan Abdulrazzak
Directed by Rosamunde Hutt
Featuring Asif Khan
Winner, Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Production, Tier 2
Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission; Content Advisory: Strong language and sexual situations
Reviews
“Directed by Rosamunde Hutt with careful attention to varied moods and nuances, Abdulrazzak’s monologues form a rich and seamless whole. Beautifully encapsulates a dilemma that’s complex, hilarious and utterly believable.” —San Francisco Examiner
“A provocative and hilarious solo show… Hassan Abdulrazzak brilliantly wrings comedy from the idiosyncratic obsessions of four very different young men as their lives intersect with the tragic state of the world around them.” —Mercury News
“A tour- de-force staging of four satiric agitprop monologues” —TheatreWorld
“Golden Thread keeps gifting us with these wonderful gems year after year, and this is definitely one of them.” —Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, KPFA
“A truly exceptional performance. … A script that deals in the nitty-gritties of the ordinary with searingly satirical candour and idiosyncratic quirks and foibles of each brilliantly observed character.” —London Theatre
★★★★ “Quartet of monologues with a profound ability to find bubbling humor in the most over-trodden tragedies” —The Stage
★★★★ “Searingly satirical, brilliantly observed” —LondonTheatre
★★★★ “Powerful, political theatre… Laugh-out-loud moments!” —Hackney Gazette
★★★★ “Invigorating, inspiring, exhilarating… Hutt’s economic, elegant single-room production transports us effortlessly to each milieu, as does Khan’s extraordinary gift for transformation” —Carole Woddis
Special Events
Sun, Apr 22, following the 3pm matinee
A Conversation with the Artistic Team
Following the matinee, Founding Artistic Director Torange Yeghiazarian will lead a conversation with playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak, director Rosamunde Hutt, and actor Asif Khan about their ongoing collaboration on Love, Bombs & Apples. Free with a ticket to the show.
Sun, Apr 29, following the 3pm matinee
A Time to Overcome Barriers?
Continue where Love, Bombs & Apples leaves off. Join the conversation with two Palestinian-American and two Jewish-American activists whose personal experiences shed light on the challenges of developing meaningful relationships when figurative and literal walls separate people. Free with a ticket to the show.
Participants: Basil Ayish, Rita Karuna Cahn, Glen Hauer, Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch. Facilitated by Torange Yeghiazarian.
Cast & Crew
Hassan Abdulrazzak
Playwright
Hassan Abdulrazzak
Hassan Abdulrazzak (Resident Artist / Playwright) is of Iraqi origin, born in Prague and living in London. His plays include Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, 2007; Belvoir St Theatre, 2009; Akvarious Productions, 2010), The Prophet (Gate Theatre, 2012), Love, Bombs, and Apples (Arcola Theatre, 2016; and UK tour), and And Here I Am (Arcola Theatre, 2017; and UK tour). His short plays include Lost Kingdom, which was selected out of 75 scripts to be part of San Francisco’s ReOrient 2015 Festival at Golden Thread, and Trump in Palestine, part of a multi-author show called Top Trumps performed at Theatre 503 (January, 2017). He has contributed to several anthologies including Iraq+100: Stories From a Century After the Invasion (Conemma Press, 2016) anrd Don’t Panic I’m Islamic (Saqi books, 2017). He is the recipient of George Devine, Meyer-Whitworth and Pearson theatre awards, as well as the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. abdulrazzak.weebly.com
Rosamunde Hutt
Director
Rosamunde Hutt
Rosamunde Hutt (Director) has led or co-led three major companies: Hijinx Theatre (1990-1993), Theatre Centre (Director, 1993-2007), and Unicorn (Associate Artistic Director, 2007-2011). In addition to the multi–award nominated Love, Bombs and Apples by Hassan Abdulrazzak (Arcola Theatre, U.K. tour, Edinburgh Festival, Golden Thread Productions), recent directing credits include This Evil Thing by Michael Mears (Edinburgh Festival, 2016; U.K. tour, 2017; U.S. tour, 2018), New Nigerians by Oladipo Agboluaje (Arcola Theatre, 2017), and John Whiting Award–winner Jumping on My Shadow by Peter Rumney (Dragon Breath Theatre/Lakeside Arts Centre, 2017). Since 2012, Rosamunde has worked as a director and producer in India, Romania, Japan, and Bangladesh. She regularly directs and teaches at RADA, Drama Studio, and East 15, where she most recently helmed Neaptide by Sarah Daniels. She has directed three showcases for Goldsmiths MA Writers at Soho Theatre, and regularly helps develop new plays for Kali Theatre. She is often invited to speak about her work commissioning new writing for young audiences, including at the Youth Theatre Festival, the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, and the Brian Roberts Inaugural Memorial Lecture at Goldsmiths. She has recently taken up the role of Artistic Director of new writing company Pursued by a Bear, now based at Trestle Arts Centre. rosamundehutt.wordpress.com
Asif Khan
Performer
Asif Khan
Asif Khan (Performer) is an award–winning writer and actor born and raised in Bradford, U.K. He trained at RADA. Theatre credits include A Passage To India (Royal & Derngate/Park Theatre), The Hypocrite (Royal Shakespeare Company/HullTruck), Paradise of the Assassins (Tara Arts), Love, Bombs & Apples (Arcola Theatre and U.K. tour), Handbagged (2015 tour, Tricycle Theatre/Eleanor Lloyd Productions), Multitudes (Tricycle Theatre), Queen of the Nile (HullTruck), Kabaddi Kabaddi Kabaddi (Arcola Theatre), The Snow Queen (Unicorn Theatre/ Trestle), Snookered (Tamasha/Bush Theatre), Mixed Up North (Out of Joint), Twelfth Night (National Theatre). Screen work includes Diana & I (BBC2), Love Type D (feature film to be released soon); Spooks (Series 10); The Dumping Ground, Doctors, Casualty (BBC); Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal (Sky1); Man Down, Bradford Riots, and Plot to Bring Down Britain’s Planes (Channel 4). His debut play Combustion toured the U.K. in 2017, and was nominated for OffWestEnd’s Best New Play award and Best Writer in the Stage Debut awards. In 2018, Asif won the Channel 4 Playwright’s Scheme award with RIFCO and Watford Palace, where he is currently under commission. He developed his first sitcom, Dirty Shiny Bradford, while part of the BBC Comedy Room and he was named on the BBC New Talent Hotlist in 2017. He is also under commission to the National Youth Theatre and is developing his first screenplay. theasifkhan.com
Scenic & Costume Design: Mila Sanders, Props Master: Grisel Torres, Box Office Assistant: Niku Sharei, Lighting Design: Charlie Lucas, Lighting Remounted by Cassie Barnes, Stage Manager: Grisel Torres, Sound Design: James Hesford, Sound Remounted by James Ard
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SPONSORS
Golden Thread thanks Zellerbach Family Foundation for their support of this premiere. Turtle Key Arts would like to acknowledge the support of AIK Productions, Arts Council England, The Iraqi Cultural Centre, The Richard Carne Trust, Shubbak Festival, and Arcola Theatre, as well as the following for supporting us to bring the production to San Francisco: Edward Kemp at Rada, Juliet Horsley at the National Theatre, Fin Kennedy at Tamasha Theatre, Derek Goldman at Georgetown University, Dane Millard at Roxane Vacca Management, and Emanuel de Lange at UK Equity. Charlotte Cunningham, Holly Cameron-Jennings and Imogen Collacott from Turtle Key Arts.
Opening night celebration food is donated by Jannah Restaurant.
Golden Thread is a resident company of Potrero Stage, operated by PlayGround. This production is made possible in part through the Potrero Stage Presenting Program.
