Golden Thread Productions presents ReOrient Festival 2023

ReOrient 2023 celebrates the return of Golden Thread Productions’ signature program, an innovative and spirited festival of short plays from or about the Middle East, running October 13-November 4, 2023 (Thu, Fri, Sat at 8 pm; Sun at 3 pm) at Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street, San Francisco. The dizzying line-up is diverse in content and style, with 6 plays selected from 113 submissions, highlighting a multiplicity of Middle Eastern perspectives and identities. Think you know the Middle East? Think again! Tickets: $20-$100. For more information or to reserve tickets, click here.

“Humanity is at the core of ReOrient. If theatre is community, it starts here. If the goal of theatre is to expand our viewpoint, to enrich our knowledge, and to embrace empathy, then ReOrient hugely succeeds.” —Stark Insider

An endless wait in an immigration line elicits a not-so-pretty stream of consciousness. Former rivals reunite after 20 years, and a surprising twist unfolds. A comic farce of a play-within-a-play-within-a-play pushes the writer to battle over who controls the narrative. A pile of dead bodies sits untouched in the middle of an office space. A young woman sails from Armenia to Ellis Island for an inconvenient marriage. A couple negotiates at San Francisco’s hottest new Couples Therapy practice. This year’s ReOrient offers a diverse lineup of unexpected and boundary-pushing plays. Nowhere else you will see such a global mix of stories and styles on one stage in one evening!

Playwrights: Katrin Arefy, Yussef El Guindi, Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, Arti Ishak, Hamed Sinno, Judith Boyajian Strang-Waldau.

Cast: Sofia Ahmad*, Hamzeh Daoud, John Fisher*, Neamah Hussein, Emily Keyishian, Rose McAvoy, AeJay Marquis Mitchell*, John Pasha*, Arielle Tonkin. *Member, Actors’ Equity

Creative Team: Carlos Aceves, Sahar Assaf, Heather Rastovac Akbarzadeh, Atusa Assadi, April Ballesteros, Amal Bisharat, Maxwell Bowman, Michaela Creedon, Raisa Donato, Nakissa Etemad, Maya Herbsman, Dan Holland, Marina Johnson, Katya Landau, Briana Lisette, Navid G Maghami, Susannah Martin, Tyler Miller, Bahar Royaee, Wendy Reyes, Vidhu Singh, Adin Walker†, Becca Wolff†, Paige Weissenburger. †Member, The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

Golden Thread Productions, founded in 1996, is the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East. We produce passionate and provocative plays from or about the Middle East that celebrate the multiplicity of its perspectives and identities. We are a developmental catalyst and vibrant artistic home to artists at various stages of their career. We bring the Middle East to the American stage, creating treasured cultural experiences for audiences of all ages and backgrounds.