Plays
My writing is dedicated reclaiming cultural spheres, stories and knowledge that have been erased by colonialism, slavery and systemic racism. Being bi-cultural and the successor of Black American and South Asian artists, I am drawn to stories that explore social and cultural intersections. In my plays I break open reality through movement, and poetry.
Children of The Wise
Rafi was born in 1889, and Nadia was born in 1999. Can they work together despite living at opposite ends of the 20th century?
Nadia is struggling with her identity as a 1st generation U.S. born when she travels to Pakistan and is met by the memory of her enigmatic grandfather Rafi. Through family and fantasy she learns of his life as an anti-colonial activist in British India, a theater maker in Berlin, a Bollywood film star in pre-partition India, and a subversive playwright in Pakistan. Inspired by Rafi’s tenacity and strife Nadia is pushed to make a drastic decision about how she can move forward and what it means to be our ancestors' wildest dreams. This play is based on the real-life story of Pakistan's first modern Dramatist, Rafi Peer, as collected through oral accounts, interviews and recordings from his children by one of his granddaughters, the playwright.
Staged Reading, Prop Theater (2022)
*Commissioned and Developed as part of Prop Theatre' Playwrights Workshop.
SHINING is the story of the Sun God's son, setting the world on fire as he works to prove himself to his estranged father. Written in contemporary verse, this Afro-futurist innovation on the myth of Phaeton explores state-sanctioned violence in western culture through “classic” archetypes and fantasy.
SHINING
*Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist (2020)
Workshop Production, SFBATCO: New Roots Theatre Festival (2021)
Staged Reading, Catalyst Theatre Think Tank UC Davis (2019)
Staged Reading, Catalyst Theatre Think Tank UC Davis (2017)
Photo by Brian Hashimoto from: Meet Cute LA Workshop directed by Ruth Du | Featuring: Jessica Damouni, Yumarie Morales (MAY 2022)
Aliyah and The Princess Jasmine
Barbie
When Aliyah returns to her childhood bedroom in Pakistan, she is confronted by her old friend, Princess Jasmine Barbie. In their absence from one another, Aliyah has become informed about the ills of capitalism, and Jasmine has been inspired by the real demons and jinn of the One Thousand and One Nights. Will either of them make it out entact?
Staged Reading, Meet Cute LA (2022)
Staged Reading, Playwrights Center SF (2022)
Staged Reading, Catalyst Theatre Think Tank UC Davis (2022)
One Google and One or, Sher(azade)
Named for the "One Thousand and One Nights" this play juxtaposes Scheherazade's relentless storytelling with a contemporary University classroom where students must fight for evidence of their own heritage. While Scheherazade buys life with narrative, the contemporary "Sher" works to reclaim the humanity of the peoples who once traded the old stories of the 'nights' by challenging her University's history curriculum.
Workshop Production, SF Bay Area Theatre Co. (2018)
Workshop Production, NYC Fringe (2012)
Workshop, CMU PLAYGROUND (2011)
