Golden Thread presents “ORIENTAL, or 1001 Ways to Tie Yourself in Knots”

Golden Thread Productions presents a New Threads staged reading of ORIENTAL, or 1001 Ways to Tie Yourself in Knots by Evren Odcikin, directed by Elizabeth Carter, dramaturgy by Torange Yeghiazarian. Nima Rakhshanifar plays Cengiz “Gee” Kurban, the Turkish playwright commissioned to adapt A Thousand and One Nights. Jennifer Le Blanc plays Art Money Woman who commissions the adaptation, and Danya El-Kurd, Fatemeh Mehraban, Maya Nazzal, and Aidaa Peerzada play Zainab, Layla, Mona, and Rehana respectively — the characters in Gee’s play until they revolt and refuse to tell the stories he demands of them. Leah Sanginiti joins the cast as the stage directions reader. The play is a farcical, yet heartfelt take on what it costs to make work as a Middle Eastern creative in today’s American theatre.

Cengiz has been commissioned to make an adaptation of A Thousand and One Nights from a Very Important Theater Company, and asked to bring his immigrant, Muslim, queer perspective to it. Unfortunately, he is not sure what all that means. As his characters revolt and refuse to tell the stories that he requires of them, can Cengiz face his demons, change the minds and hearts of his audience, and save all the women of the kingdom in the process? ORIENTAL is an absurdist look at the hilarious knots SWANA creatives must tie themselves in to tell their stories and make a career in the American theatre.

The play will receive two staged readings: Sat, June 7 at 7pm and Sun, June 8 at 2pm at Potrero Stage (1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA) Tickets and information: goldenthread.org

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.