Andrea Assaf is a poet, essayist, and widely-produced playwright, director, performer, and cultural organizer. She’s the founding Artistic and Executive Director of Art2Action Inc., and the National Coordinator of the National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation (an Art2Action collaboration with Pangea World Theater). She is currently an Artist-in-Residence and guest faculty at the School of Theatre & Dance, University of South Florida (Tampa). Andrea has served as a consultant with Equity Quotient (EQ), Alternate ROOTS, the Arts & Democracy Project, and more. She is a former Artistic Director of New WORLD Theater (2004-09), and former Program Associate for Animating Democracy (2001-04). Andrea has a Masters degree in Performance Studies and a BFA in acting, both from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She currently serves on the Board of CAATA (Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists), and is a voting board member of Alternate ROOTS. She served on the International Management Committee of WPI (Women Playwrights International, 2012-15), and is a member of RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers).

 

 

Amal Bisharat (she/her)

 

Amal Bisharat (she/her) is a Palestinian American multidisciplinary artist: a theatre director, theatre maker, producer, actor, musician, and photographer. Bisharat holds a BA in Music and Theater from Minnesota State University-Moorhead and for 12 years worked as a director and music director in partnership with San Francisco Unified School District. Bisharat is a grateful recipient of the Theater Bay Area Arts Leadership Residency Grant (2022-2023), Theater Bay Area CA$H Creates Grant (2022), and San Francisco Arts Commission Artist Grant (2023). Currently, she works with Golden Thread Productions, recently co-producing and directing for their signature program ReOrient Festival of Short Plays (2023), and directing an online reading of The Gaza Monologues by Ashtar Theater (2023). Bisharat is also in the process of creating her first musical, “Mornings in Jenin Musical”, a Palestinian refugee story adapted from the internationally best-selling novel by the same name by Susan Abulhawa. After many years of hiatus from acting, Bisharat is thrilled to be returning to her roots this year to play the role of Safiyya in Golden Thread’s production of Returning to Haifa (2024) by Ghassan Kanafani, adapted for the stage by Naomi Wallace and Ismail Khalidi. She is a board member of MENATMA (Middle East North African Theater Makers Alliance) and also serves on the Community Council for Golden Thread’s 2024 Season for Palestine. Bisharat is also a photographer with her own arts-focused photography company, capturing the magic of professional dance, theater, and music performances for groups like Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Sarah Bush Dance Project, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. Bisharat believes in the transformative power of art and storytelling whether on a stage, in a photograph, or in the stories we tell ourselves.

 

 

Sophia Alawi is a first-generation Muslim Moroccan/Italian American actress, singer, songwriter & writer. She has a BFA in Musical Theater from Rider University. She also studied at T’Schreiber, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and The Barrow Group in New York. She’s so excited to be a part of this new musical that uplifts unrepresented Palestinian voices. She won the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award for Best Featured Actress – Musical in 2019 for Groundhog Day The Musical and was named one of “Five Standout Performances” in 2019 by the Houston Chronicle for the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening. Regional credits include Sound of Music(Hillbarn Theater) She Loves Me, Merrily We Roll Along & Fun Home (42nd St Moon), As You Like It, Twelfth Night and Groundhog Day The Musical (San Francisco Playhouse), Spring Awakening (Theater Under the Stars), and In the Heights (Playhouse on Park). New York credits include Fat Kid Rules the World, and Emerson Loses Her Mind. TV credits include Law & Order SVU.

EVENT DETAILS