Reflection Session #8: This Woman, This Sea

Reflection Session #8: this woman, this sea

Special Guest: Kholoud Sawaf

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

6-7:30pm Central / 7-8:30pm Eastern

Our April episode features Syrian theatre director Kholoud Sawaf. This episode will feature Kholoud's work, including excerpts from 10,000 Balconies, as well as the poem titled "this woman, this sea" from the #11Reflections series. We will also celebrate the start of Ramadan. We invite participants to bring tea, dates, or other delights as we break fast together, with Kholoud, during the session. Join us for a very special evening of creative dialogue and community with this wonderful artist! 

Kholoud Sawaf was born and raised in Damascus, Syria. She has worked and trained in theatre and television in Syria, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the United States. Recent directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, T.Y.A), Vietgone, and 10,000 Balconies (TheatreSquared). 10,000 Balconies was  conceived, written, and directed by Sawaf with support from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. A recipient of the Classical Directing Fellowship from the Drama League in New York, she collaborated with Tina Packer at Shakespeare &  Company on Cymbeline. At the Manhattan Theatre Club (as a  Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow) and at Oregon Shakespeare Festival (as  part of the FAIR Program), she was the assistant director of Vietgone, both under the direction of May Adrales. Currently, she is co-devising  and co-directing Curbside Theatre in collaboration with ARKANSASTAGED ensemble, while also collaborating with playwright Joe Claroco and  actor/educator Mohamad Al Rifaie on a new work Rafiq (Onley Theatre Center). Sawaf holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Arkansas  and a B.A in Mass Communication from the American University of  Sharjah. To learn more about Kholoud, visit: www.kholoudsawaf.com

This event is part of a year-long series of Reflection Sessions held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Launched in September 2020 by Art2Action and the Carver Community Cultural Center,  this series will continue through the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 later  this year, in conjunction with our 2021 community-engaged theatre project "Eleven Reflections on the Nation: San Antonio." These online sessions are live, interactive, art-based, participatory events  reflecting on our nation in the post-9/11 era. Each session is grounded  in a performance excerpt from Eleven Reflections on September, by Andrea Assaf, with guest artists, creative prompts, and facilitated dialogue.

Save the Dates for full "Reflection Sessions" series:

2nd Tuesday of each month, through September 2021

6-7:30pm Central / 7-8:30pm Eastern