This is not a memorized script, this is a well-rehearsed story
Explicit content warning
10/21/21 • 47 min
Queerness is a construct. So is language, and so is this play. Nothing about this performance is reliable. The performer questions gender, memory, sex, identity, and her relationship with Beirut — but gives no answers.
THIS IS NOT A MEMORIZED SCRIPT, THIS IS A WELL-REHEARSED STORY
Written and Performed by Dima Mikhayel Matta (Lebanon)
Directed by Noelle Ghoussaini
PRODUCTION
Andrew Agress, Literary Manager
Gavin Browning, Director of Public Programs & Engagement
Jessi Cotter, Production Manager
Jordan Fleming, Student Producer
Jim Petty with Five Ohm Productions, Audio Engineer
Kanika Vaish, Literary Manager
Ada Westfall, Sound Designer
FESTIVAL CO-FOUNDERS
Carol Becker, Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts
David Henry Hwang, MFA Theatre Program, Columbia University School of the Arts
© 2021 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Queerness is a construct. So is language, and so is this play. Nothing about this performance is reliable. The performer questions gender, memory, sex, identity, and her relationship with Beirut — but gives no answers.
THIS IS NOT A MEMORIZED SCRIPT, THIS IS A WELL-REHEARSED STORY
Written and Performed by Dima Mikhayel Matta (Lebanon)
Directed by Noelle Ghoussaini
PRODUCTION
Andrew Agress, Literary Manager
Gavin Browning, Director of Public Programs & Engagement
Jessi Cotter, Production Manager
Jordan Fleming, Student Producer
Jim Petty with Five Ohm Productions, Audio Engineer
Kanika Vaish, Literary Manager
Ada Westfall, Sound Designer
FESTIVAL CO-FOUNDERS
Carol Becker, Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts
David Henry Hwang, MFA Theatre Program, Columbia University School of the Arts
© 2021 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Previous Episode
The Dark
In the heat of a November night in 1978, after eight years of civil war, four-year-old Nick and his mother flee their homeland of Uganda. What unfolds is a story of those who find themselves exiled, told through a series of voices echoing from varying states of darkness.
THE DARK
Written by Nick Makoha (United Kingdom)
Directed by NJ Agwuna
CAST
Petrina Ampeire, Joyce (rebel radio) and Ouma (boy soldier)
Robert K Benson, Mr. Fairfax and Customs Officer
Shadrack Boakye, Soldier, Shopkeeper, and Baba Nick
Shiro Kihagi, Mama Nick
Cici Koueth, Mirembe
Julia Kwamya, Fatima and Camera Woman
Irungu Mutu, Narrator Nick and Young Nick
Chris Okawa, Ocheng, Opio, and Kigo
James Okungu, Old Man, Radio Uganda, Sergeant 853, and Kimathi
PRODUCTION
Andrew Agress, Literary Manager
Gavin Browning, Director of Public Programs & Engagement
Natalie Layne Baker, Sound Editor
Jessi Cotter, Production Manager
Caroline Eng, Sound Designer
Jordan Fleming, Student Producer
Irungu Mutu, Dialect Coach
Jim Petty with Five Ohm Productions, Audio Engineer
Zoe E. Rotter, Casting Director
Kanika Vaish, Literary Manager
Daniel Vaughn, Stage Manager
FESTIVAL CO-FOUNDERS
Carol Becker, Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts
David Henry Hwang, MFA Theatre Program, Columbia University School of the Arts
Special thanks to the following, who created some of the sounds you heard in today’s episode and made them available through freesound.org: vedas, malupeeters, Vortichez, Veridiansunrise, mariadrrs, dj997, jobro, mansardian, daveincamas, bone666138, calpomatt, washout, suoitnop, lgarrett, Jay_You, bigmanjoe, kevp888, Erdie, newagesoup, cgrote, CastIronCarousel, stomachache, Almusic34, Thalamus_Lab, digifishmusic, straget
© 2021 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Next Episode
Playwright Panel Discussion 2021
Playwrights Asiimwe Deborah Kawe (Uganda), Nick Makoha (England), and Dima Mikhayel Matta (Lebanon), in conversation with Columbia University School of the Arts International Play Reading Festival Co-Founder David Henry Hwang, Theatre Program. The panel took place with a live zoom audience on October 23, 2021 at 12pm Eastern.
PRODUCTION
Andrew Agress, Literary Manager
Natalie Layne Baker, Sound Editor
Gavin Browning, Director of Public Programs & Engagement
Jessi Cotter, Production Manager
Jordan Fleming, Student Producer
Kanika Vaish, Literary Manager
FESTIVAL CO-FOUNDERS
Carol Becker, Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts
David Henry Hwang, MFA Theatre Program, Columbia University School of the Arts
© 2021 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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