On this week's episode of Kunafa and Shay, join Marina and Nabra as they discuss Zeina Daccache's work using drama therapy in Lebanon to empower inmates in the carceral system.

Join Nabra and Marina as they discuss how MENA theatre in the United States was affected by 9/11, analyze post-9/11 trends in MENA theatre from their own perspectives, and also examine popular MENA plays of the twenty-first century. Setting the stage for future episodes, this discussion illuminates how theatre has contributed to representation of Arabs in popular media and highlights the playwrights who have fought against the stereotypes that were made mainstream by the widespread racism and xenophobia following 9/11, which continue to this day.

In this first episode of Kunafa and Shay, meet our hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina J. Bergenstock!

In the season finale, Marina and Nabra preview Golden Thread’s 2026 season, from Palestinian performance and stand-up comedy to new Arab American plays and ReOrient. They reflect on curation, community, and the future of Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre.

This episode is a deep dive into Golden Thread’s ReOrient Festival and the MENATMA convening, exploring how short plays, artistic experimentation, and community infrastructure shape the evolving landscape of Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre in the United States.

Marina and Nabra explore how Golden Thread Productions amplifies women’s voices and mobilizes global artistic solidarity through What Do the Women Say? and 24 Hours for Palestine, where performance becomes archive, resistance, and collective action.

Evren Odcikin joins Marina and Nabra to unpack new play development as a site of cultural translation, experimentation, and refusal, exploring Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian dramaturgies and artistic processes.

A decade after landmark convenings, Nabra and Marina revisit the “Middle Eastern American Theatre Artists’ Bill of Rights” and “Dear Producers and Artistic Directors of the American Theatre” (an open letter to producers), asking how these calls for agency and equity continue to shape MENA/SWANA theatre today.

This episode explores how Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian folklore and performance create joy, belonging, and political imagination for young audiences in Fairytale Players. These plays also address gaps in representation and the urgent need for culturally specific youth theatre.

This episode is a deep dive into Golden Thread’s evolution. Sahar Assaf reflects on leadership, hybridity, and making Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre beyond stereotypes—centering community, complexity, and art as resistance in moments of crisis.

Playwright Yussef El Guindi reflects on Golden Thread’s pivotal second decade; writing in the post-9/11 landscape; and how Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian  theatre carved space for nuance, resistance, and community in the US. 

This episode is a deep dive into the founding of Golden Thread Productions with founding artistic director Torange Yeghiazarian—tracing how one artist’s vision grew into a movement that reshaped Middle Eastern theatre in the US.

Marina and Nabra take a sweeping look at thirty years of Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre in the United States—from Golden Thread’s founding in 1996 to a growing ecosystem of bold, community-rooted companies shaping the American stage through urgency, artistry, and refusal.