Refugee Rhapsody
World Premiere, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, 2026
By Yussef El Guindi
World Premiere, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, 2026
By Yussef El Guindi
Photos: Seth Freeman
Playwright: Yussef El Guindi
Director: Zi Alikhan
Stage Manager: Genevieve Dornemann*
Assistant Stage Manager: Jake Vollmar
Scenic Design: Afsoon Pajoufar
Lighting Design: Venus Gulbranson
Costume Design: Lux Haac
Sound Design: Sinan Refik Zafar
Technical Director: Brodie Steele
SAKINAH - Ellena Eshraghi
JENNY - Jada Alston Owens*
FOUAD - Revon Yousif*
EMILY - Shelby Alayne Antel*
RICHARD/WALEED - Joshua David Scarlett
DECK CREW - Alex Heskett, Baiyinnah Muhammad
WARDROBE - William Walker, Elaine Weirich
LX OP - Kayden Openshaw
SOUND OP - Angie Dressel
As ASM for this world premiere production, my work revolved around navigating the unique challenges that arise when you don't have a permanent backstage space to work with.
The set was centered around a large 16-foot wall on air casters which moved to different positions onstage at various points in the production, including a full rotation. With each move, anything we had hidden upstage of the wall--including props, costume pieces, smaller set pieces, and cast/crew members--all had to move along behind it. My job was not just to lead scene shifts, but to plot out how everything and everyone could comfortably fit upstage while still staying out of audience sightlines.
The "Goodwill Rack Carousel," scene. In which I circled the set and actress Ellena Eshraghi with the clothing rack 3 times, neither of us pausing as she added and removed items to it.
Rotating the wall during a scene shift.