Mideast Culture

Burqavaganza’s Brazen Bollywood Ballyhoo Puts the Fun in Fundamentalism

“If you look at the burqa in a symbolic sense, everywhere people have burqas. Every culture has its own way of hiding true intention. There are communist burqas; there are free-market burqas.” ~ Shahid Nadeem

Hot off the heels of Pakistan’s spirited parliamentary elections- which pitted a charismatic, secular former cricket star against an older, pro-establishment, conservative candidate- the United States theatrical premier of Burqavaganza at San Francisco’s Brava Theater couldn’t have been more aptly timed.

Billed as “a love story in the time of jihad,” Burqavaganza is a searing satire from Pakistan’s Shahid Nadeem, who uses the burqa as a metaphor to challenge Islamic extremism, sexual taboos, police corruption, Western imperialism, and the War on Terror.

Cultural Differences Make Provocative Romance: “Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World”

Egyptian-American playwright, Yussef El Guindi explores the complexities of an intercultural romance in the Bay Area premier of Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, winner of last year’s prestigious Steinberg Award for New Play from the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA).

A romantic comedy is a departure for the multi-award winning Guindi, who is better known for his deeply contemplative political works such as Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, Language Rooms and When the Birds Flew In, which have been staged by the San Francisco-based theater company Golden Thread Productions.

El Guindi says that he “latches on to whatever my muse or unconscious coughs up” and was inspired to write this play after hearing a late-night conversation between two people who were walking up the stairs to their apartment.

444 Days: A Tangled Web of Love, Betrayal, and Politics

Love, betrayal, espionage: together, the three make for a winning combination, especially when it’s set to the well-known 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis story told from the rare perspective of an Iranian woman. This is the premise of Playwright and Director Torange Yeghiazarian’s new play, 444 DAYS, set to premiere this October at Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco, the only theatre in the United States solely dedicated to producing work by and about Middle Easterners.

Can anything survive decades of secrecy, broken promises, and political intrigue? That’s the question we ask when Laleh, an Iranian revolutionary, and Henry, a diplomatic attaché, meet for the first time in 25 years as Laleh’s daughter lies in a coma. The last time they spoke was when she held him hostage for 444 days at the United States Embassy in Tehran along with 52 other Americans. Through a masterful and unexpected meshing of international espionage and family secrets, Yeghiazarian weaves a narrative that is not only dramatically gripping, but also provocative as it sheds a new light on current United States-Iran relations.

Making Fashion Saucy: UAE’s S*uce Boutique Helps Local Talent Shine

Dubai, a city known for its glamour, soaring skyscrapers and magnificent malls, plays host to over a thousand shopping tourists every month. The Middle East, in general, has a strong presence of international luxury brands such as Chanel, Givenchy, Prada and Louis Vuitton. But, there are also tourists hungry for some local fashion flair. In 2004, this idea turned into a reality with the opening of S*uce Boutique.

Founder Zayan Ghandour, a fashion journalist, along with boutique partners Fatima Ghobash and Dina Salehese, realized there was something missing from the Middle Eastern fashion market; they wanted to bring quirky and edgy local high fashion to the UAE’s saturated (foreign) luxury fashion market. In addition to carrying high fashion contemporary brands such as Alexander Wang and Thakoon, the boutique stocks up and coming local fashion and lifestyle brands, making them accessible to natives and tourists alike.

One of These Things is Actually Like the Others

What Past Great Performances Can Teach Us In Dealing with Present-Day Events

Muslim-Americans. A 1950s American opera best described as “Shakespearean tragedy meets McCarthy-Era Tennessee.” The Boston Marathon. Before you begin to think that I’m having an ADHD attack, let me say this: one of these things is actually like the others.

I don’t think we need to rehash the events leading up to and following the Boston Marathon bombings. The tragedy shook me- not just because of its horrificness, but also because I used to live in Boston, and currently, I’m in the process of possibly moving back. As a city, it energizes me like no other- its culture, its history, and the intellectual stimulation it offers. The first time I ever felt like I had a small place in the span of American history was almost twelve years ago when I walked through Harvard’s Memorial Hall. And, every time I return to Boston, a certain pride overwhelms me. No matter how jaded or cynical I may feel at the time, the city always reminds me that calling myself an “American” is in fact something I can be proud of.