The Girl Who Lost Her Smile

THE GIRL WHO LOST HER SMILE

Adapted from the story by Karim Alrawi

Presented by the Fairytale Project

Golden Thread Productions

Featuring Vida Ghahremani, Jen Colasuonno, Tehmina Khan, Torange Yeghiazarian, Chelsea K. Zephyr, Suha Arah, Sahar Hojat and Carol Ellis.

Backdrop designed and painted by Termeh Yeghiazarian

Props and construction by Garrett Westfal

Presented in the traditional Iranian storytelling style of Naghalli and Pardeh-Khani, and accompanied with live folk music, The Girl Who Lost Her Smile features Golden Thread’s Fairytale ensemble. The story is inspired by a poem from Rumi’s Mathnavi as written in Karim Alrawi’s children’s book, The Girl Who Lost Her Smile. Presentational concept & additional dialogue by Torange Yeghiazarian. Persian Poetry by Fedowsi from the Shahnameh or King’s Book of Kings. Originally developed and co-directed by Dariush Irannejad.

VIDA GHAHREMANI began acting in film as a teenager in Iran where she established the standards of stardom.Vida is an associate artist of Golden Threadwhere she performed in Abaga and Nine Armenians.A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Vida has performed in numerous Iranian and American films, most recently one by Wayne Wang.

JEN COLASUONNO is a versatile performer, choreographer, collaborator and teacher. If anyone asks how she became a performer she says that it was through pure exploration and play! Jen has performed partner balancing acrobatics, physical comedy, acting, singing, dancing, aerial arts, puppeteering, fire arts and circus sideshow internationally - as a soloist and as part of a troupe: www.jencolasuonno.com

TEHMINA KHAN is a poet and educator with a long time interest in storytelling and children's theater. As a parent, she has taught science, puppetry and storytelling to preschoolers. She speaks Urdu, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese and loves to learn new words. She lives with her family in San Francisco.

TORANGE YEGHIAZARIAN writes, directs and acts for the Theatre. Among her plays are Call Me Mehdi, Waves, Dawn at Midnight, Behind Glass Windows, Abaga. A native of Iran and of Armenian heritage, Torange is the founding artistic director of Golden Thread Productions.

CHELSEA K. ZEPHYR is a performer, director, teacher, and writer. Upon her arrival to the Bay Area in 1996, Chelsea founded Splash Circus, a local youth circus-theatre troupe based in Emeryville. Currently, Chelsea directs original productions, teaches theatre arts and juggling, and performs locally. She most enjoys Commedia dell’Arte, club passing, and her son, Julian. Not in that order.

SUHA ARAJ likes to get her hands dirty in art, film, acting and anything else that combines a little movement, thought and heart. She has preformed with Golden Thread and Darvag theatre groups in San Francisco. Her films and art installations focus on identity and displacement have shown both locally and internationally.

CAROL ELLIS holds an MFA from Columbia University. She has worked in Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Chile, California, Massachusetts, and NYC. She created the role of Tia Choco in Tortilla Moon, a new play for children that debuted at the World Children's Theatre Festival in San Diego , CA and at the Centre de Cultura in Tijuana , Mexico. She founded The Ochlos Theatre Workshop in 2004.

SAHAR HOJAT

LITURATURE and POETS

KARIM ALRAWI (Author) was born and raised in Egypt, and lived in England from an early age. Some of his earliest plays were performed at the Royal Court Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford East. He taught at the American University in Cairo, becoming active in the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. Now living in North America, Alrawi has had productions at a number of theatres in Canada and the US including Deep Cut, produced by Golden Thread Productions.

Rumi was a 13th century Persian mystical teacher, poet and storyteller who lived in the present-day Turkish city of Konya. He was the founder of the order of the Whirling Dervishes, who use music and dance to achieve a mystical state of worship. The order continues to this day.

Ferdowsi lived from 940-1020 in Persia, in what is present-day Iran. He was a great poet, and worked for 30 years on his masterpiece, known as Shahnameh, or King’s Book of Kings, an epic tale of heroes in ancient Persia. Ferdowsi wrote during a time when Arabic was known as the main language of science and literature. Since he wrote his masterpiece in Persian, he gave new life to Persian as a language of literature.

Nizami was a poet living in present-day Azerbaijan from 1141-1203. He wrote several short and epic poems, many of which had a far-reaching influence on poetry throughout the world. He is most famous for Khamseh, a collection of five epic love poems, including Leyla and Mejnun, a story that is sometimes likened to Romeo and Juliet, although it’s exploration of love is more philosophical and mystic in nature.

Attar lived from 1142-1220 in present-day Iran. He started life as a pharmacist, but eventually abandoned his store in order to travel and spread the mystical ideas of Sufism. He is a famous mystical poet, and his works, like The Conference of the Birds, had a great influence on Rumi and many other Sufi poets.

Golden Thread Productions is a San Francisco Bay Area company dedicated to exploring Middle Eastern culture and identity as represented throughout the globe. Made up of artists from around the world, the company exemplifies theatre’s ability to transcend cultural and political boundaries and to encourage an active dialogue. Among the nations represented in our past productions are Iran, Armenia, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Algeria, Afghanistan, and United States. Founded in 1996, Golden Thread Productions’ annual programming consists of two main stage productions, ReOrient festival of short plays, as well as workshops, staged readings and special events.

Our developing Youth Education Program seeks to further Golden Thread Productions' mission of exploring Middle Eastern culture and identities, with an interactive environment where students immerse themselves in theatre through a culturally conscious interdisciplinary program. Creative drama activities focused on Middle Eastern themes will familiarize students with many cultural characters, histories, and stories of the Middle East and instill a lifelong appreciation and interest in other cultures. Our latest project is The Fairytale Project, a touring ensemble with a repertory of performances rooted in stories, music and dance from the Middle East.

Through the transformative power of theatre, Golden Thread Productions aims to participate in creating a world where our common experience as human beings supersedes our cultural and political differences. In our vast imagination, the Middle East is defined not by geographical boundaries and political separations, but as the shared experience of the people, who throughout history have been touched by its tales, melodies and aromas. The Middle East lives inside us. As we redefine ourselves, we redefine the Middle East.

The Girl Who Lost Her Smile

LITURATURE and POETS

FURTHER READING