A Transmedia Theatre Project
DRONE, by Joyce Award-winning playwright Andrea Assaf, is a new play that explores the drone as a metaphor for how we become desensitized to daily violence (domestic and global), the question of Moral Injury, and the effects of remote-control warfare on the human soul. This transdisciplinary performance project integrates theatre, live music, emerging technologies, and artistic containers for public dialogue.
DRONE
Written & Directed by Andrea Assaf
A workshop production presented by the Arab American National Museum
@ Detroit Public Theatre
July 31 - Aug 2 | 7pm
Aug 3 | 2pm
VIEW THE DIGITAL PROGRAM
Featuring: Dora Arreola, Ian Bednarski, Zeyy Fawaz, Mel House, Will Keenan, Anna De Luna, Efe Osagie, Iman Saleh, Gerard Stropnicky, Ashley Wilkerson, and Nejla Yatkin, with Live Music & Vocals performed by: Lubana Al Quntar, Farah Afra, Eylem Basaldi, Zeyy Fawaz, Roger Kashou, Kathy Randels, Zafer Tawil, and Gabi Vigueira.
Written & Directed by Andrea Assaf, Music Direction by Eylem Basaldi, Movement Direction by Dora Arreola, Choreography by Nejla Yatkin, virtual Projection Design by Eva Auster, Scenic Design by Jeff Becker, Lighting Design by Sandie Norville, Costume Design by Zuwaib Razzaq and the cast, Sound Engineering by Jalise Little and James Gordon, Stage Management by Solstiz Ibarra-Campos, production support by Madison Jones, Jwymon Williams, and Ari Watts, and Facilitation by Kim Pevia.
The 2025 production of DRONE is made possible by a 2024 Joyce Award, and the generous support of the Ford Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) National Theatre Project, the National Performance Network (NPN), and more.
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SYNOPSIS: The play follows the story of a U.S. pilot who moves to Nevada for a new job, flying drones -- and what this job does to him, and his family. The pilot's story is juxtaposed with the poetic testimonies of The Survivors, who seem to speak to him through various forms of media and screens. As the pilot's mental health becomes increasingly affected, he escapes more and more to the Las Vegas nightlife, while his wife turns to faith for support, joining a local ministry (which unbeknownst to her, is preparing for the end of days). During an impulsive visit to the military base, she encounters a group of protestors, and a temple to the ancient Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet. As the play takes a turn toward tragedy, we meet a host of characters, including a retired Air Force General, a Sex Worker, a Preacher, and multiple Elvis Impersonators.
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES:
In January 2023, the artistic team of DRONE performed a special, invitation-only, staged reading of new work-in-progress at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) New Orleans. Performed by: Dora Arreola (Movement Director), Lyam B. Gabel, Ifrah Mansour, Heather Raffo, Kathy Randels, Nick Slie, Gerard Stropnicky, Ashley Wilkerson, and Anu Yadav. With live music by Lubana Al Quntar, Eylem Basaldi, Kathy Randels, Aida Shahghasemi, and Zafer Tawil.
Photos & video at the CAC New Orleans were taken by Melisa Cardona (2023). Check out the VIDEO section below!
* NOW Available for Touring: *
DRONE: Testimonies & Music
A Concert Performance
from Surviving the Long Wars: Veteran Arts Summit & Triennial
DRONE: Testimonies & Music features three characters from the play known as "The Survivors." These excerpts are based on the actual, real-life testimonies of survivors and witnesses of U.S. military drone strikes, written into multi-voice poetry by Andrea Assaf. The testimony poems are paired with an original sound score that explores droning in diverse music traditions -- from the U.S. South, to Southwest and Central Asia. Featured performers include Andrea Assaf, Ashley Wilkerson, and Anu Yadav as The Survivors; with vocalists Lubana Al Quntar, Kathy Randels, and Aida Shahghasemi; violinist Eylem Basladi, multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil, and more.
Check out these photos from performances at the Arab American National Museum (November 2022, photos by Houssam Mchaimech), and the Chicago Cultural Center (March 2023, photos by Gabi Vigueira), plus excerpts in the VIDEO section below!
VIDEO
Content Warning: This performance contains text based on the actual testimonies of military drone strike survivors and witnesses. The content includes descriptions of war, death, and violence, which may be difficult for some audiences. We encourage self-care, in your choice to view the following video excerpts, or to attend performances.
PARTICIPATE:
Share YOUR Story!
In February 2021, Andrea Assaf received a Digital Residency with the Arab American National Museum. As Artist-in-Residence, she offered online workshops, and developed the script for DRONE, including online ensemble-building with an incredible cast of collaborating artists: Nick Slie, Kathy Randels, Robert "Bobby B." Martin, Ashley Wilkerson, Heather Raffo, Adelina Anthony, Ifrah Mansour, and Anu Yadav. Script development culminated in an online reading of the first full draft, with Critical Response feedback from invited partners and supporters. In addition, Art2Action and the Museum launched a national Call for Video Submissions.
We invite Arab American, South West/Central Asian and North African (SWANA), Muslim, allied artists, military veterans, and community members, to share lived experiences related to key themes in this work. The DRONE project seeks to document direct experience with surveillance or militarized drones. If you have worked with or witnessed military or surveillance drones, and would like to share your story, please consider submitting a video to our interactive archive (currently in development). Videos should be 3-5 minutes in length, and should specifically reflect these themes. Use the approach of your choice -- a story, poem, song, movement, media or more -- to share your personal experience. All stories should be true, and all creative content must be original (or public domain). Videos submitted will be considered for showcases on our website, and for screening in conjunction with performances and dialogue events for this project. Visit our Submission Form, and SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Background & Vision
DRONE is a large-scale, ensemble, multimedia theater work, in which visual and sonic environments are as strong as the performances. With Dora Arreola as Movement Director, performers develop a shared physical vocabulary, exploring the “drone” in movement as an embodied experience of militarization, as well as embodiments of ritual. Guest Choreographer/Dancer Nejla Yatkin will also embody the goddess Sekhmet! Music Director Eylem Basaldi and vocalists Kathy Randels, Lubana Al Quntar, and Aida Shahghasemi collaborate to develop an original sound score, exploring practices of “droning” in music traditions from Appalachia to Iran. Through the creative encounter of artists from the U.S. and the Middle East, we are exploring how the aesthetic drone can link and traverse global locations, cross time zones and centuries, to create a sonic base for simultaneity. In collaboration with Director Andrea Assaf, Scenic Designer Jeff Becker will develop imagery as the text and performance elements evolve together. Projection design will include live feed, documentary footage, digital art and interactivity exploring the play's themes and motifs, and transporting us to the play's various locations. Audience interactivity will include web and app-based components, as well as facilitated dialogues and community engagemen
IMPACT: This project aims to expose the horrors of the mundane, and the deceptive “security” of limitless surveillance and endless war. We want to create a work that will bring awareness to the rapid proliferation of militarized drones, and stimulate public dialogue on this very real and disturbing subject. Our hope is to increase awareness of the military use of drones, for surveillance and bombing, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, at the U.S.-Mexico border, and beyond…as well as within U.S. borders. Through national partnerships with CODEPINK Women for Peace, Veterans for Peace, and About Face (formerly Iraq Veterans Against the War), and other activist organizations, we hope to catalyze broad public dialogue and action on this crucial issue. We also hope to inspire audiences to reflect personally on how and why we choose to “drone” out, or default into denial and escapism – and how we could all choose differently, to actively engage in creating a more safe and peaceful world.
Activism
The photos below were taken in Fall 2019, when Art2Action joined CODEPINK and Veterans for Peace (VFP) for a week-long vigil to protest U.S. military drone strikes, outside of Creech Air Force Base in the Nevada desert, near Las Vegas.
DRONE, by Andrea Assaf, is an Art2Action production. Early development was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) National Theater Project (with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation); and the National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund, in partnership with the Arab American National Museum, Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) New Orleans, Art2Action, and NPN (the Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; for more information, visit: www.npnweb.org); the Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET) TEN exchange grant, in partnership with ArtSpot Productions; and Alternate ROOTS Artistic Assistance grants.
The 2025 workshop production at the Detroit Public Theatre, presented by the Arab American National Museum, is made possible in part by the Joyce Foundation’s 2024 Joyce Award.
