ReOrient 2026 Festival

Hassan Abdulrazzak

(he/him) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His plays include The Special Relationship (Soho Theatre, 2020), And Here I Am (Arcola Theatre, 2017; currently touring internationally), Love, Bombs and Apples (Arcola Theatre, 2016; UK tour; Golden Thread, San Francisco, 2018; Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, 2019), The Prophet (Gate Theatre, 2012), and Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, 2007; BBC Radio 3, 2008; Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, 2009; Akvarious Productions, Delhi and Mumbai, 2010). His two-part radio adaptation The Yafa Cherry Orchard was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2025 and nominated for Best Adaptation and Best Actress at the BBC Audio Drama Awards. His short film A Night of Gharam won the Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant (2022) and went on to win further awards following its release in 2023. He is the recipient of the George Devine, Meyer-Whitworth and Pearson Theatre Awards, as well as the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. abdulrazzak.weebly.com

Banafsheh Hassani بنفشه حسنی

(any/all) is an Iranian feminist theatre artist; they write, act, produce and facilitate. They are a co-founder and active member of The Sky is the Limit Theatre, a theatrical collective dedicated to immigrant and queer stories. Their most significant credit as a playwright and actor is Regarding Antigone, a critically acclaimed and touring solo show on state violence, survival, witnessing and responsibility. Currently, they are spearheading DIS, a theatre criticism hub dedicated to training and professionalizing BIPOC cultural critics and covering Montreal’s English theatre scene.

Sepehr Jafari

(they/them) is an Iranian playwright and cartoonist. They received their MFA in playwriting from San Francisco State University, their BA in theater from the University of Tehran, and are currently working towards a PhD in Performance Studies at UC Davis. They are a recipient of a Marcus Recruitment Award, an honorable mention at the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival Program, and the owner of a fuzzy green parakeet.

Hannah Khalil

(she/her) is Writer in Residence, Bristol Old Vic. Previously she was Resident Writer at Shakespeare’s Globe, work there includes Hakawatis and The Fir Tree. My English Persian Kitchen sold out at the Edinburgh Festival and Soho theatre in 2024, it toured in autumn 2025. A Museum in Baghdad marked the first play by an Arab woman on a main stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Hannah is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

(Headshot by Richard Saker)

Ahmed Masoud

(he/him) is the author of the acclaimed novels Vanished – The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda and Come What May. Ahmed is a writer, poet and director who grew up in Palestine and moved to the UK in 2002.  Ahmed’s Theatre and Radio Drama credits include: The Florist of Rafah (2024), Passports, Jinn, Mo Salah and Other Complicated Things (2023),  Application 39 (WDR Radio, Germany, 2018), Camouflage (London, 2017), The Shroud Maker (London, 2015 – still touring), Walaa, Loyalty (London, 2014 – funded by the Arts Council England), Escape from Gaza (BBC Radio 4, 2011). Ahmed is the founder of Al Zaytouna Dance Theatre (2005–2013) where wrote and directed many productions with subsequent tours in the UK and Europe, including Unto the Breach (London and Vienna, 2012), Between the Fleeting Words (London, Zurich, Freiburg, Ljubljana, Madrid, 2010 – 2012). Ila Haif (London, and Freiburg, 2008-2010), Hassad (London, 2007-2008). After finishing his PhD research, Ahmed published many journals and articles including a chapter in the Britain and Muslim World: A Historical Perspective (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011). Most recently, Ahmed launched his new artistic initiative called PalArt Collective. ahmedmasoud.co.uk

Wynne Chan

(she/her) is the Managing Director at Golden Thread Productions. She is a Hong Kong-American director, dramaturg, and theatermaker. She is also the artistic leader at Shows.cool, a collaborative cabaret and theater group that recently produced an all-Chinese language cabaret show, Back In Time. Select directing credits: Chinglish (SF Playhouse - Associate Director, Plethos Production), The Chinese Lady (The Pear Theatre), She Kills Monsters (Plethos Productions), The Language Archive (Masquers Playhouse). Select dramaturgy credits: M. Butterfly (SF Playhouse), ROI (SF Playhouse), Anonymous (SBMT). She will be directing the US Premiere of Underdog: The Other Other Bronte at The Pear Theatre this November.

Nick McDow Musley

(he/him) recently starred in The Return for Golden Thread. He played Hamlet for the Marin Shakespeare Company, where he is an artistic associate and dramaturg. He co-created and performed in The Untime at Marin Shakes. His television work includes recurring and guest star roles on The Unit, NCIS, and Lie to Me. He developed several original roles at Theatre West, earning the Los Angeles Times Critic’s pick for Against the Wall. He created the role of Daniel Baker in Mark Wilding’s Our Man in Santiago, which he also debuted Off-Broadway at the AMT Theatre. Nick has directed multiple films and stage productions in Los Angeles. His short film Love’s Labour’s Lost is currently taught in colleges around the country. He attended Solano Community College, Santa Clara University, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, and has performed in Shakespeare productions throughout the Bay Area. He is a theater professor at Laney College and teaches acting for camera, theater, and directing at the Oakland School for the Arts. theshakespeareworkshop.com/

Nabra Nelson

(she/her) is the Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions. She is a multi-disciplinary theater maker from Nubia, Egypt, and California, with over a decade of experience as a director, administrator, writer, consultant, dramaturg, and teaching artist. She leads the Nubian Foundation for Preserving a Cultural Heritage, is a founding company member of Dunya Productions, a founding company member of Heard Space Arts Collective, Board Member of the MENA Theater Makers Alliance, co-founder of HERitage emBODYment, company member of Dancing Earth, and is the co-host of the Kunafa & Shay Theater Podcast. Awards and recognitions include the New England Foundation for the Arts National Theatre Project, Dramatists Guild Foundation National Playwriting Fellowship, New Arab American Theater Works’ Inaugural Playwriting Cohort, 4Culture Project Grant, Map Fund Artist Award, Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit Partner of the Year, and Agenda Communicating the Arts 30 Under 30. She has directed at Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Montgomery College, UW-Milwaukee, the Women’s Ensemble Theatre Troupe. UC Santa Barbara, Pork Filled Productions, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the Tessellate Festival, and American Players Theatre. nabranelson.com

Salim Razawi

(he/him) is an Afghan-American theatre maker. He is the Artistic Producer & Casting Director for Golden Thread Productions. Additionally, he is a director, casting consultant, and theatre artist working widely through the Bay Area. His directing credits include Once on This Island (Contra Costa Civic Theatre & Plethos Theatre), The Shape of Things and Into the Woods (Town Hall Theatre Company), Carrie (Berkeley Playhouse), Mean Girls (City of Milpitas), and School of Rock and Legally Blonde (City of Pleasanton). Previous acting credits include Play That Goes Wrong at SF Playhouse, Disgraced at San Jose Stage Company and Sebastian in Twelfth Night at Marin Shakespeare Company. He worked as a teaching artist for theatre companies including American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He also co-founded TEAM Theatre, a youth theatre company serving the Tri-Valley. salimrazawi.com

Torange Yeghiazarian

(she/her) is an award-winning playwright and director passionate about building community through theater. Her artistic practice reflects her values of radical hospitality and inclusiveness aimed at disrupting stereotypes of the Middle East both within the community and outside of it. A transplant from the 1979 Iranian revolution, Torange believes that life is inherently political and that the personal and the global are inseparable. Her plays frequently explore the cultural and political divide with tenderness and humor from an immigrant woman’s perspective. As a director, Torange’s focus has been on new plays, experimenting with Middle Eastern performance traditions, and staging poetry. Dubbed the “Margo Jones–founding-mother-figure of Middle Eastern American theatre”, Torange founded Golden Thread Productions where she created visionary programs such as ReOrient Festival of Short Plays, premiered hundreds of plays, and launched the careers of countless artists. A recipient of the Gerbode Playwright Commission Award and an NEA Literary Fellowship, Torange’s plays are published in New Iranian Plays, Performing Iran, and Salaam.Peace: Anthology of Middle Eastern American Drama. Born in Iran and of Armenian heritage, Torange is an alumna of  San Francisco State University Theater Arts. torangeyeghiazarian.com/

Nakissa Etemad

Nakissa Etemad (she/her) is an Iranian-American dramaturg, producer, director, and French translator specializing in new BIPOC plays and musicals for over three decades. An Affiliated Artist of Golden Thread Productions, Treasurer of LMDA, member of MENATMA, and former Associate Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company, Nakissa’s recent credits include dramaturg for Leili & Majnun by Torange Yeghiazarian (Central Stage/ Marin Shakes’ Seeds of Time); director of Children of the Wise by Aidaa Peerzada (BAPF 2024), and staged reading of Sepehr Jafari’s Homing Pigeons & Co (SFBATCO’s New Roots Festival 2024); dramaturg & producer for world premieres of Justice: A New Musical by Gunderson, Lowdermilk, and Kerrigan (Marin Theatre Co.), and her season selection of Hotter Than Egypt by Yussef El Guindi (world premiere co-production, Marin Theatre Co. & ACT in Seattle). Previous Golden Thread credits include lead dramaturg & LMDA partnership producer for ReOrient 2023, 2019, and 2017; dramaturg for Zahra Noorbakhsh’s On Behalf of All Muslims: A Comedy Special; and dramaturg, creative collaborator, and casting director for Isfahan Bluesby Torange Yeghiazarian, music by Marcus Shelby. Winner of the 2015 Elliott Hayes Award for The Lark’s four-city premieres of the road weeps, the well runs dry by Marcus Gardley.

Marina Johnson

(she/they) recently graduated with her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from Stanford University. Prior to Stanford, Johnson received her MFA in Directing and taught at Beloit College. Marina recently directed plays and led workshops at El Hakawati (Jerusalem), Al Harah Theatre (Bethlehem), and ASHTAR Theatre (Ramallah). She is currently living in Palestine, working as a director, dramaturg, and trainer. MarinaJohnson.com

Emily DeDakis

(she/her) is a writer and dramaturg from the Southeast U.S. and moved to Belfast, Ireland in 2005. Her dramaturgy has involved immersive, 24-hour, multimedia, verbatim and dance theatre, with companies like the Lyric Theatre, Accidental, Terra Nova, Replay, An Droichead and Scene+Heard (UK/Ireland), foolsFURY and Golden Thread (USA). She coordinated and co-mentored Fighting Words Northern Ireland’s Young Playwrights programme from 2019-2024. Emily has written for theatre, sound art, radio, TV and contemporary music, and performs voice/text with the experimental ensembles HIVE Choir and No Hevdem. haveyouthoughtabout.co.uk/

Oona Hatton

(she/her) has been a production and development dramaturg for over two decades. Some favorite productions include Nikki Yeboah’s 11th & Pine (Sound Theatre, Seattle), Min Kahng’s The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga (Theatreworks, Mountainview), and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia (The Hypocrites, Chicago). Oona is a Professor of Performance Studies in the Communication Studies Department at San José State University and co-artistic director of Davis Repertory Theatre, with whom she devises, directs, writes, produces, and, of course, dramaturgs. Davis Rep’s current project, As We Recall, is a play based on interviews with community members who organized the 2023 recall of a transphobic school board trustee in Woodland, CA. Oona is a proud member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) and co-editor of the forthcoming anthology, Dramaturging Devised Performance (Intellect). davisrep.org

Setareh Greenwood

(she/they) is an Iranian-American actor and theatremaker. Born and raised in the Bay, she is excited for the opportunity to work with fellow MENA theatremakers, and is delighted to be making her Golden Thread debut. Acting credits include As You Like It (Phoebe), Da Vinci Code (Collet), Julius Caesar (Brutus), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Guildenstern), and The Taming of the Shrew (Bianca). Directing credits include Love and Information at Mount Holyoke College, and MVHS Drama Llamas’ A Very Potter Radio Play (Co-Director) and Firebringer (Music Director). They graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in Sociology and Religion, where her studies focused on the relationship between religion, history, culture, and community in West Asia.

Hind Jadallah-Karraa

(she/her) is a Palestinian-Lebanese actor, writer, and comedian based out of Los Angeles, CA. Although she currently resides in LA, she was raised in the Bay Area and is so happy to be back and reconnect with her roots. She enjoys writing poetry, performing improv, and roller-skating on the off days when she’s not indoors watching a show or creating online skits with her roommate for their instagram account @notnormalave. She has toured around the world doing Shakespeare. She performed as Juliet in Prague Shakespeare Company’s Arabic adaption of Romeo and Juliet, Richard III in their adaptation of Richard III, and Queen Elizabeth in Irwin Appel’s The Death of Kings. She believes art, comedy, and theater carry immense power, and she is determined to hone it and share herself and her culture through it. She carries who she is and her heritage with her, and wants to amplify the beautiful and hard stories of those around her. She is honored to be making her debut with Golden Thread Productions and dedicates this performance to Palestine.

Charisse Loriaux*

(she/her) is thrilled to make her Golden Thread debut with the ReOrient Festival. Most recently, she played Cassius in Julius Caesar at Marin Shakespeare Company and Mina Harker in Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really at SF Playhouse. This winter, she will return to Marin Theatre Company in the holiday musical The Gift of Nothing. Charisse is a frequent collaborator with Bay Area theatre makers and has also performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is a company member at PlayGround SF and a proud graduate of San José State University. charisseloriaux.com

Thameen Mansour

(he/him) is an actor originally from Palestine, now based in San Francisco. He studied Film and Television at Yarmouk University in Jordan, then earned his Master’s degree in Motion Picture at the Academy of Art University. Since arriving in San Francisco, he has built a strong body of work in short films, bringing a grounded, cross-cultural perspective to every role. This production marks his first professional stage role, and he brings to it the same dedication and cross-cultural depth that has defined his work on screen. As a Palestinian himself, Thameen brings a personal connection to this material that runs deeper than craft alone. He is grateful for the opportunity to share these stories, and excited for all that lies ahead.

Leda Rasooli

(she/her) is an Afghan-American actor, based in California. Having appeared in their recent production Pilgrimage, Leda is thrilled to continue storytelling with Golden Thread.

Ameen Safi

is an Afghan American actor, writer, and teaching artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is thrilled to be making his first production with Golden Thread Productions after previously collaborating with the company’s founder, Torange Yeghiazarian. Ameen has appeared in multiple short films, notably The Wisdom of the Crowd, which he co-wrote and was well received on the film festival circuit. Outside of acting, he writes original plays and screenplays, teaches youth theatre, and practices Hindustani classical music on the sitar. His work is deeply influenced by Afghan culture, classical poetry, and stories that explore identity, belonging, and the connections between people across cultures. Ameen is grateful to be part of this production and looks forward to sharing this story with audiences.

Dina Zarif

(she/her) is a San Francisco–based multidisciplinary performing artist, designer, curator, and arts activist born and raised in Iran. As a vocalist, she blends Western classical technique with Middle Eastern and Persian traditions, creating a sound rooted in her cultural heritage. As an actress, Zarif trained with renowned Iranian theater master Bahram Beyzaie at Stanford University’s Iranian Studies Program. Her stage credits include Ardaviraf’s Report, Tarabnameh (musical), Crossroads, The Language of Wild Berries (Golden Thread Productions, 2022), Exodus to Eden (Oakland Theater Project, 2023), Dash Akol According to Marjan at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Theatre (2024–2025), and Leili and Majnun (2024–2025). Zarif starred in the title role in the feature film MITRA (2021), which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. As a shadow performer and costume designer, she toured internationally with the UNIMA Award-winning Feathers of Fire: A Persian Epic, performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most recently, she was a featured vocalist in What Do Women Say? with Golden Thread Productions (2026) and is currently in production as Cordelia in King Lear with Oakland Theater Project at Z Space. She is the Artistic and Managing Director of Red Poppy Art House, an independent multidisciplinary nonprofit arts organization. She holds an MA in Landscape Architecture from the University of Tehran, College of Fine Arts.

Lauren Quan*

Lauren is a Bay Area-based stage manager, who is excited to join Golden Thread in this production! She has previously stage managed for other Bay Area theatres such as Magic Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, SFBATCO, and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre.

Oliver Kampman

(he/him) is a stage manager originally from the East Bay, who is looking forward to his first production with Golden Thread. After earning a bachelor’s in Stage Management & Technical Theatre from the Lir Academy in Dublin, Ireland, Oliver has previously worked as ASM on productions for the Irish National Opera (The Flying Dutchman, L’elisir d’amore, Madama Butterfly) and ANU Productions (Starjazzer, The Dead). Since returning to California earlier this year, he has worked as ASM for the immersive theater company 13th Floor (Finnegan’s Wake).

Kate Boyd

(she/her) is a Bay Area scenery and lighting designer. She recently designed the sets for Word for Word’s Absolutely Sci Fi and lighting for The Cherry Orchard at Marin Theater Company. She is proud to be an affilliated artist at Golden Thread, where she has designed The Language of Wild Berries, Drowning in Cairo, We Swim We Talk We Go To War, Isfahan Blues, among others. She has also designed for Aurora Theater, Portland Center Stage, Magic Theater and Merola Opera. Kate is a recipient of the Gerbode Design Fellowship and teaches design and stagecraft at Lick-Wilmerding High School.

Maxwell Bowman

(he/him) is a lighting and multimedia designer with side endeavors in art focusing on using new technologies for storytelling. He has collaborated all over the world on productions by such organizations as the American Repertory Theatre, The Atlanta Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera, The Royal Court Theatre (UK), San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, Golden Thread, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Rep, Soho Rep, Second Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, National Sawdust Factory to name a few, and is an ongoing video associate for Wicked on Broadway and National Tours. He is originally from Tumwater, Washington, USA. He attended Southern Methodist University (MFA in Stage Design), Southern Oregon University (BFA in Lighting Design), and is currently based in Mountain View, CA. maxwellbowman.com

Buffy

(she/her) 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; Limp Wrist on the Lever at Crowded Fire Theater; AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf), Pilgrimage, and Arab Spring at Golden Thread Productions.

Jenna Lauren Carroll

(she/her) is a Bay Area scenic designer, props director, and painter. Jenna’s typical design style is fairies and princesses and trauma. She explores injustices and structural discrimination that fuel the cyclical age-old stories that were true then and true now. Her designs are expressive and mystical with flair and heart [because pretty pink sparkles and a serious message isn’t and shouldn’t be mutually exclusive]. Through her queer, femme lens, she design with a cause in mind. The flow of paint mixes color and messages, often in a painterly style. By shifting perspective and movement, she challenges preconceived notions and draws parallels and explores the gray. You might have seen her previous SF work in Crowded Fire’s Limp Wrist or in Please Don’t Slow Me Down. When she isn’t designing or fabricating, you can find her watching drag race or murder shows, singing in her a cappella group, or hanging out with her favorite people (her mom, sister, grandma, and dog). Enjoy the show! jennalaurencarroll.com
@jenna.lauren.carroll

Elliott Orr

(he/him) is an Oakland-based audio engineer and sound designer. He is thrilled to be returning to Golden Thread for the first time since AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf) (2025). Some of his recent notable credits include Twelfth Night (ACT), ||:Girls:||:Chance:||:Music:|| (ACT), Jagged Little Pill (Center REP), M. Butterfly (SF Playhouse), and Into The Woods (SF Playhouse).

Tyler Miller

(he/him) feels blessed to return for his fourth production with Golden Thread, where he previously worked two ReOrient Festivals and Drowning in Cairo. He studied theater and performance at Stanford University, and has freelanced in the Bay Area theater scene as a stage manager, technician, carpenter/welder, and production manager. He is currently the Assistant Technical Director at California Scenic Fabrication. Huge thanks to the Cal Scenic team for their generosity and mentorship, to his friends and family for their love in the form of late-night talks and food, and to the amazing ReOrient team. calscenic.org

Wendy Reyes

(she/her) is a Mexican-American, multimedia artist from St. Louis, Missouri. She received her Bachelor in Media Studies, minor in Chicanx-Latinx Studies from the University of San Francisco. With her skills in video and audio production, she aims to create engaging and educational material that brings awareness to social injustices in order to promote a healthy and just path for marginalized communities. Wendy is now based in the Bay Area, and is the Production Associate at Golden Thread Productions and a current participant of KALW’s radio journalism program in San Francisco, CA.