Live-stream conversations with audience Q&A.
No Summary 2022
Conversations With Artists Who Don't Fit in a Box
These curated digital discussions invite artists of Middle Eastern and North African heritage to discuss the many layers of their identity and how it impacts their work and artistic choices.
We are thrilled to continue our livestream series NO SUMMARY with new artists and fresh conversations, featuring live audience Q&A! We invite you to join in the conversation and immerse yourself in these exciting topics and compelling artists who defy a snappy summation. See below for a preview schedule of our upcoming episodes!
Click here to learn about and watch our past archived episodes.
List of Episodes
Friday, November 11, 2022 at 11:00AM (PST)
Critiquing the Critics: the Reception of MENA Productions
Golden Thread invites Sarah Fahmy, a scholar and devising artist to moderate a conversation on the reception of MENA productions in the U.S. today with Kareem Fahmy, a theatre director, playwright, and screenwriter whose work is produced at nationally acclaimed theatre companies this year, and Malek Najjar, a director, playwright, and scholar of Arab American and Middle-Eastern American theatre and Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Oregon. When Middle Eastern North African stories are constantly subjected to the white gaze and are performed in front of a predominantly white-US audience, how do MENA creative teams grapple with an authentic representation of their artistry, languages, and cultures?
This conversation is produced and hosted by Golden Thread Productions in collaboration with the MENATMA Convening taking place at the Arab American National Museum, November 10-12, 2022.
Register in advance for free and join us on the Zoom webinar to ask your questions directly of the panelists!
Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 11:00AM (PDT)
Meet the Cast of The Language of Wild Berries
Golden Thread’s Marketing & Engagement Manager Sheila Devitt introduces and interviews cast members of The Language of Wild Berries, a U.S. premiere by Naghmeh Samini. Come meet performers Zaya Kolia, Damien Seperi and Dina Zarif and learn about their theatre journeys and what excites them about this production coming up in October 2022 at Golden Thread.
Register in advance for free and join us on the Zoom webinar to ask your questions directly of the panelists!
Friday, June 24, 2022 at 11:00AM (PDT)
What can the wise fool Nasrudin teach us? Bringing Middle Eastern storytelling to young audiences
Golden Thread’s Fairytale Players Program Manager, Heather Rastovac Akbarzadeh, hosts a panel of arts, culture, and education professionals to discuss Golden Thread’s theatre for young audiences program. In this particular moment of divisive politics, and as we struggle to emerge from a global pandemic, what possibilities emerge from bringing Middle Eastern storytelling to young audiences? Join Sarah Al-Kassab (Jordanian-American actor, producer, and costume designer), Sabria Hassan (program manager with the American Association of Yemeni Students and Professionals), and Angela Norton Tyler (teacher at Fruitvale Elementary School in Oakland, CA) as they discuss the production and reception of Fairytale Players’ 2022 tour of Nasrudin’s Magnificent Journey to Samarkand, written by Torange Yeghiazarian and directed by Sarah Al-Kassab.
Register in advance for free and join us on the Zoom webinar to ask your questions directly of the panelists!
Thursday, April 28, 2022 at 11:00AM (PDT)
Tap In, Tap Out, On Dangerous Storytelling
Golden Thread invites Kholoud Nasser, a theatre artist and trauma-informed therapist to host a conversation with Drowning in Cairo’s Intimacy Coordinator Maya Herbsman and Fight Director Carla Pantoja. When violence, abuse and intimate content are part of the storytelling, how can we ensure safety and protection in the rehearsal room and the performance space? Maya and Carla will discuss their creative process and their role in safely driving the story forward. The artists will offer us insights into the protocols of touch and contact between actors and how such protocols affirm trust and creativity.
Friday, February 25, 2022 at 11:00AM (PDT)
Meet the Cast of Drowning in Cairo
Golden Thread’s Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf introduces and interviews cast members of Drowning in Cairo, a world premiere by Adam Ashraf Elsayigh. The play focuses on three young men whose lives are forever altered when an unexpected police raid results in the arrest and public humiliation of the attendees of the Queen Boat, a gay nightclub docked on the Nile. Come meet Martin Yousif Zebari and Wiley Naman Strasser and learn about their theatre journeys and what excites them about this debut production coming up in April 2022 at Golden Thread.