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Adam Elsayigh

Playwright, Dramaturg, and Theatermaker

Adam Ashraf Elsayigh was born in Cairo, Egypt. When soon thereafter, his parents relocated the family to Dubai, Adam grew up in a religious Muslim household with American cable TV, going to a British school in a Gulf state where over 90% of the population were migrant workers. This upbringing at the cross-section of cultures is at the core of the artist Adam is.

Today, Adam is a writer, theatermaker, and dramaturg who writes and develops plays that interrogate the intersections of queerness, immigration, and colonialism. Adam’s plays (including Drowning in Cairo, Revelation, Memorial, and Jamestown/ Williamsburg) have been developed and seen at New York Theater Workshop, The Lark, The Tisch School of the Arts, The LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and Golden Thread Productions. Adam is a fellow at Georgetown University's Laboratory for Global Performance and an Alliance/Kendeda Award Finalist. He holds a BA in Theater and Dramaturgy from NYU Abu Dhabi and an MFA in Playwriting from Brooklyn College. Learn more about what Adam is up to at https://www.adamaelsayigh.com/.

Kunafa and Shay Teaser Image with guest headshot.
Queer Representation in the United States
Podcast

Queer Representation in the United States

27 September 2023

In this episode, playwright and dramaturg Adam Ashraf Elsayigh joins co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson to unpack what it means to put queer SWANA characters on stage and discuss the future of representation in the United States.

a colorful written diagram titled "Glocal Pedagogy"
Undoing Post-colonial Structures in Theatre, Starting With Zoom Convenings
Essay

Undoing Post-colonial Structures in Theatre, Starting With Zoom Convenings

19 November 2020

Karishma Bhagani, Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, and Taiwo Afolabi—three fellows of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University—talk about their learnings from creating and participating in a weeklong Zoom convening.

five performers pose in shadowy light
Flirting with the Taboo at the Cairo Festival for Contemporary & Experimental Theatre
Essay

Flirting with the Taboo at the Cairo Festival for Contemporary & Experimental Theatre

31 October 2018

Egyptian American playwright Adam A. Elsayigh uses the 2018 Cairo Festival for Contemporary & Experimental Theatre as a jumping off point to discuss the state of theatre in the city, censorship, playwriting, and more.