Live-stream conversations with audience Q&A.
No Summary 2023
Conversations With Artists Who Don't Fit in a Box
We are thrilled to continue our livestream series NO SUMMARY with new artists and fresh conversations, featuring live audience Q&A! In this new season, No Summary embarks on a virtual tour to universities across the nation, bringing Golden Thread’s Conversations with Artists Who Don’t Fit in a Box to theatre and art classes. 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!
April 14, 2023 - September 20, 2023
Click here to learn about and watch our past archived episodes.
List of Episodes
Friday, April 14 at 11:00 AM PT
Episode 1: Comedy as a Form of Solidarity and Resistance
In the first episode of our 2023 season, Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf and Golden Thread’s 2023 Artist-in-residence Wafaa Bilal, will be joined by the classes of Associate Professor Simon Anderson, a British-born-and-educated cultural historian, and interdisciplinary Syrian artist Sami Hussain Ismat, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Bilal, currently an Arts Professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, will discuss comedy as a coping mechanism and a form of solidarity and resistance. Join us to learn about what compelled Wafaa Bilal to curate Amreeka: The Comedy Show. Students and general audiences will get the chance to ask their questions directly to the artist.
Wednesday, June 7 at 11:00 AM PT
Episode 2: MENA Playwrights on Storytelling
with Theatre Students from California Polytechnic and University of Washington
In this episode of No Summary, we are thrilled to bring together a panel of MENA playwrights who are writing powerful stories for U.S. audiences and using their platforms to shed light on the experiences of underrepresented communities. Join us as we delve into the creative process of playwriting, the challenges, and opportunities of bringing diverse stories to the stage, and the impact that these stories can have on audiences. Catherine Coray will moderate the panel of guests including playwrights Yussef El Guindi, Denmo Ibrahim, and Hadi Tabbal. The playwrights will share their experiences, discuss the significance of storytelling in MENA cultures and reflect on the ways in which their work has contributed to the broader discourse on race, power, and representation in the U.S.
The panel will be joined by a MENA American Theater class at California Polytechnic State University, designed by professor Hala Baki to imagine how MENA theater can contribute to a more inclusive American culture, and a Plays and Styles drama class at the University of Washington taught by Mona Merhi who focused the course on topics related to race, ethnicity, and identity representation by examining the works of playwrights from the MENA region alongside modern and contemporary western texts.
Friday, August 4 at 11:00 AM PT
Episode 3: Critiquing the Critics: the Reception of SWANA Theatre in North America
In collaboration with the Middle Eastern Theatre focus group at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) annual conference, Golden Thread Productions invites Dr. Sarah Fahmy, a decolonial scholartist and co-founder of the Middle Eastern Theatre group at ATHE, and Marina Johnson, a scholar and director, to moderate a conversation on theatre criticism in the SWANA artistic and academic worlds across the region and the diaspora today. This panel features scholar, dramaturg and former theater reviewer, Dr. Aycan Akçamete, dramaturg and theatre journalist, Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel, and playwright Tariq Hamami for a conversation that seeks to analyze the status of “post”-pandemic theatre criticism and desired pathways forward in academia and in praxis from SWANA artists. Panelists will discuss topics of cultural competency, the multiple forms of criticism, and the ways that SWANA artists and academics seek to change the game.
November, 2023
Episode 4: The Making of the ReOrient Festival: A Unique Process and Multiple Perspectives
The ReOrient directors and designers will discuss the unique production process of the ReOrient Festival. How do directors adapt their approach when sharing the same ensemble cast, festival designers, and production team? What are the challenges designers deal with when accommodating the variety of plays and how do the design elements provide specificity and cohesion?