In American Dreams & Arabian Nights (work-in-progress), Scheherezade Brown returns to the U.S. from a year in the West Bank, in love with a Palestinian man. Staying with her WASP father and Lebanese mother in their comfortable home over Thanksgiving and Christmastime, she must convince both her family and her country to let her love in. In the process she begins to investigate her own roots, and his, through letters to their unborn child. As she struggles to hold on to love and trust across miles, time zones, immigration battles and dropped WhatsApp connections, her jet lag, dreams, and nightmares intersect with her grandmother's growing dementia to create magical, liminal spaces, blurring boundaries between past and present, here and there, truth and fiction. Weaving storytelling, dream sequences, music, movement and more, this playful work-in-progress invites the audience into an interactive exploration of who we let in to our hearts, families and nations—and how those choices shape who we are.
Conceived and written by Leila Buck and directed and developed by Noelle Ghoussaini in collaboration with the ensemble.
Featuring:
Leila Buck
Caitlin Cassidy
Gamze Ceylan
Jens Rasmussen
Louis Sallan
Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
General Admission: Seated
American Dreams & Arabian Nights is produced as part of the BRIClab Residency. BRIClab is a commissioning and residency program that offers local artists time and space to explore and expand the possibilities of their work in music, dance, theater and multi-disciplinary performance. Work-in-progress showings, presented with moderated artist-audience dialogues, open artists’ process and creativity to BRIC’s diverse public.
Venue Information:
The intimate, flexible studio space within BRIC House is dedicated to emerging and mid-career artists, with an audience capacity of 50-75 for rehearsals and performances in a workshop setting.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org