Bay Area theatre + this summer = STACKED. ❤️ Grateful to see Arab Spring included among these beautiful productions.
Also: go see @odcikin Evren’s As You Like It @marinshakes TRUST ME
There comes a point in the process, where if you’re lucky, you have to hand over your script to a director. After years of hearing the rhythms in your own head, building the world, writing and rewriting every line, silence, and beat until it sings, another artist arrives and begins seeing things you could never see by yourself.
I cannot express how excited I am to be collaborating with Nailah Unole didanas’ea Harper-Malveaux on Arab Spring. PINCH ME.
Rehearsals begin next week, but we’ve been in production meetings for months. And I already feel her fierce intelligence, curiosity, and love for this play. Thank the dear Ganesh for directors. They shape not only what a play becomes, but how a room feels while building it.
Y’ALL. This is gonna be 🔥 but also 🕺💃🏽 and definitely 🦄 but ALSO 💔 in the best possible way.
June 19 – July 12 @ Potrero Stage
Produced by Golden Thread Productions + SFBATCO
@still_nai_rise@sfbatco@goldenthreadplays
Meet the cast of Arab Spring!
Salim Razawi is Yussef. Arti Ishak is Dina.
Salim Razawi (@salimrazawi ) is a theatre maker and, in addition to being the casting director at Shotgun Players, he serves as the Artistic Producer and Casting Director at Golden Thread Productions. He has supported casting and consulting across the Bay Area including Marin Shakespeare Festival, the Casting Collective, Aurora Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, Ray of Light, Town Hall Theatre, Las Positas College, and others. Select directing credits include Once on This Island (Contra Costa Civic Theatre & Plethos Productions), The Shape of Things and Mean Girls (City of Milpitas), amongst others. Previous acting credits include The Play That Goes Wrong at SF Playhouse, Disgraced at San Jose Stage Company, and Twelfth Night at Marin Shakespeare Company. He is thrilled to be revising this script after participating in the workshop with SF Playwrights foundation.
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Arti Ishak (@artiishak ) is a Chicago actor/writer/director whose work centers on Queer, Muslim, and multicultural stories. Select Credits TV: Southside (HBO); Dark Matter (Apple TV); Chicago Med (NBC). Theatre: Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno, The Best Decision You’ve Ever Made (The Second City); Witch, Buried Child (Writers), Venus in Fur (Circle). Directing credits include short films Shukran Bas (Means of Productions), ba la (HF Productions), HALF (ZAXIE), and upcoming short Divorce Party. Arti is a senior instructor at Black Box Acting and Adjunct Professor at The Theatre School at DePaul.
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Arab Spring is co-produced by Golden Thread Productions and San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO).
Use code EARLYBIRDY for 15% off General Admission tickets through May 22.
June 19 – July 12
Potrero Stage
Thrilled to finally share that my play ARAB SPRING will receive its world premiere with @sfbatco and @goldenthreadplays this June.
This play has lived with me for several years, through workshops, readings, rewrites, and countless conversations. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring it to this moment.
Save the date❤️
*****
ARAB SPRING tickets are now on sale!
This biting dark comedy by award-winning playwright Denmo Ibrahim Denmo Ibrahim follows two siblings who learn what family means as they plan an Islamic funeral for their estranged father. But can they do it without killing each other? Inshallah.
The world premiere is a first-time partnership between co-producers Golden Thread and SFBATCO.
June 19 – July 12, 2026 at Potrero Stage
Tickets are $20-$80.
BUY EARLY AND SAVE! Through May 22, use code EARLYBIRDY for 15% off.
Meet Denmo Ibrahim. The playwright of Arab Spring.
Denmo Ibrahim (she/her) is an American playwright, actor, and theatre maker of Egyptian descent. She is the recipient of the Legacy Playwright Award from Advance Gender Equity in the Arts and was shortlisted for the 2025 Princess Grace Award. Her plays include Arab Spring (Finalist: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Rainin Fellowship), BABA (Winner: Theatre Bay Area “Best Original Script”; SFBATCC “Best New Play” & “Best Solo Show”), The Weight of an Orange (The Playwrights’ Revolution, Capital Stage) and Naguib Mahfuz Was Stabbed in the Neck and Almost Died (Finalist: Sundance Theatre Lab). Her children’s book Zaynab’s Night of Destiny, an audio immersive experience for young audiences, toured throughout Kentucky public schools and was supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts.
Denmo’s creative work has been produced and developed by Audible, Round House Theatre, Williamston Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Noor Theatre, The Civilians R&D Series, Amphibian Stage, Alter Theatre, Shotgun Players, Golden Thread, and Crowded Fire.
As an educator, she has led workshops in storytelling and ensemble devised theatre at Harvard University, University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and LOYAC in Kuwait. She currently serves as Chair of the MENA Theatre Makers Alliance (MENATMA), a national coalition advancing visibility and equity for SWANA artists. Denmo holds an MFA from Naropa University and a BFA from Boston University. denmoibrahim.com
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Arab Spring is co-produced by Golden Thread Productions and San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO).
Use code EARLYBIRDY for 15% off General Admission tickets through May 22.
June 19 – July 12
Potrero Stage
Missed the live performance of Amreeka 2026: The Comedy Show from our Festival of Palestinian Art last month? We’ve got you covered! Go to our link in bio and get access to the video on demand!
Amreeka: The Comedy Show is curated by Wafaa Bilal and features comedians Suzie Afridi, Charles McBee, Lana Salah, and Majdy Fares
Laughter is Resistance! Proceeds will support the artists, organizations, and the Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance (MECA - )
A PARTNERSHIP TO UPLIFT A BAY AREA VOICE! We’re honored to partner with @sfbatco for the first time for the world premiere of Denmo Ibrahim’s ARAB SPRING. As two organizations celebrated for our commitment to supporting Bay Area voices and representation, it’s already been a wonderful collaboration!
BUY BEFORE MAY 22 AND SAVE!
Use code EARLYBIRDY to get 15% general admission tickets. Tix thru link in bio 👆👆
ARAB SPRING tickets are now on sale!
This biting dark comedy by award-winning playwright Denmo Ibrahim @denmo_ibrahim follows two siblings who learn what family means as they plan an Islamic funeral for their estranged father. But can they do it without killing each other? Insallah.
The world premiere is a first-time partnership between co-producers Golden Thread and SFBATCO.
June 19 – July 12, 2026 at Potrero Stage
Tickets are $20-$80.
BUY EARLY AND SAVE! Through May 22, use code EARLYBIRDY for 15% off.
And just like that, our Festival of Palestinian Art is closed!
With multiple shows sold out, we couldn’t be more thankful to our artist, staff, volunteers, audiences, and community partners! Here is to Palestinian artistry, laughter, healing, and liberation.
This video of the standing ovation that writer/performer Alaa Shehada received at the end of THE HORSE OF JENIN screening says it all.
You have two more chances — Tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 3pm — to see Amreeka: A Comedy Show.
90 minutes • Palestinian Line Up • SOOO FUNNY • Don’t miss it!
#freepalestine🇵🇸 #comedy #laughterisresistance #joyisresistance #sfbayarea
AMREEKA 2026: The Comedy Show brings Palestinian stand-up to San Francisco this weekend. Palestinian laughter is a radical act of resistance.
join us on April 17-19 at Potrero Stage. Info/tix thru link in bio 👆👆
