2010 MIDDLE EAST AMERICA

DISTINGUISHED PLAYWRIGHT AWARD

GOES TO

YUSSEF EL GUINDI

Press Release
Playwright Biography
Golden Thread Productions
Lark Play Development Center
Silk Road Theatre Project

NEW YORK, NY – Seattle-based playwright Yussef El Guindi¸ author of numerous plays including Our Enemies (Osborn Award), Back of the Throat and Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, has been selected to receive the 2010 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award. Honorable mentions went to playwrights Nastaran Ahmadi, Denmo Ibrahim, Ken Kaissar, Mona Mansour, and Heather Raffo.

The prize, which is granted every other year to an American writer of a Middle Eastern background by a consortium composed of San Francisco’s Golden Thread Productions, New York’s Lark Play Development Center, and Chicago’s Silk Road Theatre Project, comes with a $10,000 commission to write a new play of the author’s choice, artistic development support for two years and possible productions at both Silk Road and Golden Thread. During the commissioned play’s development and production arc, representatives of each partner organization, along with El Guindi, will travel to each city—Chicago, New York, and San Francisco—to observe the play’s creative process and to engage in public conversations and panel events about Middle Eastern American voices.

The award is part of Middle East America: A National New Plays Initiative, a first-of-its-kind tri-coastal collaboration designed to encourage and support the development of Middle Eastern American playwrights and plays of the highest artistic caliber and to enrich the canon of American dramatic literature. The program aims to challenge both the lack of representation and the one-dimensional stereotypical representation of persons of Middle Eastern descent on America's stages.

In 2008, the inaugural Middle East America award went to Adriana Sevahn Nichols to develop and write her play Night Over Erzinga, about three generations of an Armenian immigrant family in America. Night Over Erzinga will be presented in Lark’s BareBones® workshop program this June before moving on to a world premiere production at Golden Thread in September, directed by nationally recognized new plays director,  Daniella Topol.

Representatives of the three companies will officially present the prize to El Guindi at a celebration at the Lark this June. The winner was chosen from a competitive application process by a selection committee composed of Silk Road’s Artistic Director Jamil Khoury, Golden Thread’s Artistic Director Torange Yeghiazarian and Lark’s Director of Offsite Programs & Partnerships Lisa Rothe. The reading committee was composed of a wide range of theater artists and leaders including Neilesh Bose (Editor,   “Beyond Broadway and Bollywood: Plays from the South Asian Diaspora), Christopher Chen (playwright, Into The Numbers), Holly Hill (Co-editor, “Salam/Peace” anthology), Laura Hope (Professor of Drama, Loyola University; Artistic Associate, Golden Thread), Lucinda Kidder (Producer, 1st ever festival of plays by women from Moslem countries), Bill Kincaid (Professor, Western Illinois University), Evren Odcikin (Artistic Associate, Golden Thread), Tanya Palmer (Literary Manager, Goodman Theater), and Ben Thiem (Literary Manager, TimeLine Theatre).

El Guindi has been produced at Golden Thread, Silk Road Theatre Project, InterAct Theater, Kitchen Dog Theater, Theater Schmeater, and Wilma Theater; as well published by Dramatists Play Service, Applause Books in 2008, and “Salaam/Peace: An Anthology of Middle-Eastern American Playwrights,” published by TCG. He holds an MFA from Carnegie-Mellon University and was playwright-in-residence at Duke University. He says of this award, “This opportunity will allow me to explore a subject matter I might otherwise be hesitant to broach. At a time when the economy, among other factors, inclines one to play it safe, having these three theater companies stand behind me makes a big difference financially and artistically. I’m thrilled and nervous at the same time.”

Lark’s Artistic Director John Clinton Eisner commented about the purpose of the program, "Our nation's energy and innovation has often sprung from immigrant's stories and global perspectives, and this commission represents a new path for cultural institutions learning to collaborate on building new repertoire that more accurately mirrors and celebrates America's ever-evolving cultural landscape."

About El Guindi’s proposed new work, the Artistic Director of Silk Road Theatre Project Jamil Khoury said, “Yussef positions the Arab American experience within the tapestry of American storytelling.  His voice is fresh and provocative, lyrical and unorthodox, daring to unearth the checkered landscapes of “us” and “them,” “here” and “there,” “with us” and “against us.”  If there is anything predictable about Yussef’s plays it’s how utterly unpredictable they manage to be.” 

Playwrights of Middle Eastern American heritage applied from all over the U.S. and, according to Torange Yeghiazarian, Golden Thread Artistic Director, “Yussef is not only a leading Arab-American playwright but he has been instrumental to the recognition of this community and its invaluable contribution to American theatre. I can't wait to read and produce the play he writes for this commission.”

For more information on Middle East America: A National New Plays Initiative, please visit: www.middleeastamerica.org. 

YUSSEF EL GUINDI’s most recent productions include Language Rooms (Wilma Theater) and Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes (Golden Thread Productions, InterAct Theater, Kitchen Dog Theater,  Theater Schmeater).  His plays, Back of the Throat, as well as Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda’s and Karima’s City, have been published by Dramatists Play Service. The latter one-acts have also been included in “The Best American Short Plays: 2004-2005”, published by Applause Books in 2008.  His play Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, is included in “Salaam/Peace: An Anthology of Middle-Eastern American Playwrights,” published by TCG, 2009. Upcoming production: Pilgrims Musa and Sheri n the New World at ACT in Seattle. He holds an MFA from Carnegie-Mellon University and was playwright-in-residence at Duke University.

Founded in 1996, GOLDEN THREAD PRODUCTIONS is dedicated to exploring Middle Eastern cultures and identities as expressed around the globe. We present alternative perspectives of the Middle East by developing and producing theatrical work that is aesthetically varied and politically and viscerally engaging, while supporting countless Middle Eastern artists in all phases of their careers. Our mission is to make the Middle East a potent presence on the American stage and also to make theatre a treasured cultural experience within Middle Eastern communities.  We build cultural bridges by engaging the community in an active dialogue and facilitating collaborations among artists of diverse backgrounds with the aim of creating a world where the common human experience supersedes cultural and political differences. Golden Thread Productions is led by Artistic Director Torange Yeghiazarian and Managing Director, Serge Bakalian. For more information: www.goldenthread.org.

A laboratory for new voices and new ideas, the LARK PLAY DEVELOPMENT CENTER provides playwrights with indispensable resources to develop their work. The Lark brings together actors, directors, playwrights and the community to allow writers to learn about their own work by seeing and hearing it, and by receiving feedback from a dedicated and supportive community. The company reaches into untapped local populations and across international boundaries to seek out and embrace unheard voices and diverse perspectives, celebrating differences in language and worldviews. The Lark also plays a leading role in advancing unknown writers and their works to audiences through carefully stewarded partnerships with a host of theaters, universities, community-based organizations, and NGOs, locally, nationally and globally. The Lark is led by Artistic Director, John Clinton Eisner and Managing Director, Michael Robertson. For more information: www.larktheatre.org.

SILK ROAD THEATRE PROJECT showcases playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds, whose works address themes relevant to the peoples of the Silk Road and their Diaspora communities. Through the mediums of theatre, video, education, and advocacy, we aim to deepen and expand representation in American culture. Silk Road Theatre Project is led by Artistic Director, Jamil Khoury and Executive Director, Malik Gillani.  For more information: www.srtp.org.