Eleven Reflections
on September
Written & Directed by Andrea Assaf
Video Art by Pramila Vasudevan
Performed by: Andrea Assaf, Eylem Basaldi, April Centrone, Lubana Al Quntar
Eleven Reflections on September is a poetry/spoken word, multimedia performance on Arab American experience, Wars on/of Terror, and “the constant, quiet rain of death amidst beauty” that each autumn brings in a post-9/11 world. This production is based on the series of poems Andrea Assaf has been writing since 2001, spanning the fall of the towers, the on-going wars, and the current revolutions and conflicts sweeping through the Arab world. Aesthetically, the poems explore the disintegration of language in the face of violence, prejudice, and unspeakable horror; as such, they progress from lyrical to abstract and broken. The annual witnessing of autumn leaves becomes a metaphor for the fallen–soldiers and civilians … This multi-disciplinary project includes performances with interactive media design and live music; community dialogues; visual arts exhibits; open mics, panels and opportunities for action through partnerships with Iraq Veterans Against the War and other peace organizations.
Notable venues have included the 2016 National Asian American Theatre Festival at Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF); The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, La Mama ETC, and The Apollo Soundstage as part of the 2015 Women of the World (WOW) Festival; Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT), Mexico, and the University of South Florida (USF) as part of the 2014 THIS Bridge series; The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, The Carpetbag Theatre, and Pangea World Theater, which commissioned the project as part of their 2011 Alternate Visions Series. Works-in-progress readings were also performed at The Bowery Poetry Festival, Hedgebrook, and the Grotowski Institute as part of the 2009 Zero Budget Festival.
In 2021, we will re-create the show as a large-scale, community-based, devised performance directed by Andrea Assaf, engaging Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) and Muslim artists and allies from across San Antonio, Texas. Commissioned by The Carver Community Cultural Center, we hope this version of the project, Eleven Reflections: San Antonio, will become a model for a replicable process. As more cities and communities engage, we hope to launch a rolling series, Eleven Reflections on the Nation, in conjunction with the upcoming 20th anniversary of 9/11.
If you'd like this project to engage YOUR community, please contact us!
Video
Photos
Press
Playbill — Women Artists Collective Explores Post-9/11 New York
Downtown Magazine — Eleven Reflections on September: A Look Back on a Post-9/11 World
Dan Bacalzo’s Asian American Performance — Andrea Assaf Brings Eleven Reflections on September to La MaMa
Download NYC Press Release
Touring
October 2016 - 5th National Asian American Theater Conference & Festival @ OSF
Produced by the Consortium of Asian American Theatres & Artists (CAATA). Featuring Lubana Al Quntar and Eylem Basaldi.
August 11, 2016 @ Alternate ROOTS 40th Anniversary!
Featuring special guest dancer, S.T. Shimi, and introducing April Centrone on percussion.
September 15, 2015 @ The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
Part of the Women’s Voices Theatre Festival! With special guest vocalist, Jenny Luna.
June 14, 2015 @ the legendary Apollo Theater
As part of the WOW! Artists TakeOver, Women of the World Festival, in partnership with Hi-ARTS.
April 30-May 17, 2015 — NYC PREMIERE: La MaMa ETC
Three-week run at the historic La MaMa, First Floor Theatre, NYC, in partnership with HiArts. Featuring guest choreographer/dancer Donna Mejia, with post-show dialogues moderated by special guest artists including Heather Raffo, May Joseph, James Scruggs, and more.
FALL 2021 - Eleven Reflections: San Antonio @ The Carver Community Cultural Center
Stay tuned for details! An all *NEW* devised theatre ensemble edition, coming soon!
COMING SOON! - Eleven Reflections: The Concert @ The Carver Cultural Center
Fall 2014 - Concert Tour: Eleven Reflections on September
The Fall 2014 Concert Tour included performances at:
Fall 2011 - National Performance Network (NPN) & The Carpetbag Theatre
The Fall 2011 performance tour included:
2011 PREMIERE @ Pangea World Theatre
Eleven Reflections on September was originally commissioned by & premiered at Pangea World Theater‘s 2011 Alternate Visions Festival, supported in part by the Princess Grace Foundation-USA Theater Fellowship program, the National Performance Network (NPN) Performance Residency program, and United States Artists.
Work-in-Progress: Grotowski Institute, Bowery Poetry Club, Hedgebrook & more!
Early readings & work-in-progress performances of Eleven Reflections on September were featured at CECUT (Mexico 2010); the Zero Budget Festival, organized by the WorkCenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards (Wroclaw, Poland, November 2009); the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC (October 2007); and the Augusta Savage Gallery at the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center (April 2007). Excerpts and work-in-progress showings have also been performed at DIWAN Forum for the Arts (CUNY 2011); the BAAD! Ass Women’s Festival (Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance, 2011); the RAWI Conference (Ann Arbor, MI 2010); the Alternate ROOTS Annual Meeting (2008); and Hedgebrook’s NYC alumnae gathering (2007). Some poems from this series have been translated and published in English in Mizna (USA) and Scarf Magazine (UK); and in Spanish translation in Mexico.
