Muslim, Iranian-American writer and comedian performer Zahra Noorbakhsh (pronounced Zah-ra Nor-bash), brings back her successful one person show All Atheists Are Muslim. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Zahra Noorbakhsh - back from the Int'l. NYC Fringe Theater Festival - aims to heal the Islamophobia that is terrorizing fair and balanced thought everywhere with her critically-acclaimed one woman show, All Atheists Are Muslim. Its an insightful and funny solo-performance evening that uses a story about cross-cultural relationships to address stereotypes about Islam, thus aiming to combat the demonization of Muslims in America. Muslims get in 2 for 1. All Atheists Are Muslim is directed by W. Kamau Bell.
All Atheists Are Muslim plays Thurs., Fri., and Sat. at 8:00 pm from Sept. 1 - Oct. 1, 2011 Stage Werx Theatre is located at 533 Sutter St.( at Powell) in San Francisco 94102.
Tickets are $20 general admission, and are available at
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/189522
It's time for Zahra and her boyfriend Duncan to move in together. All Zahra needs to do is let her immigrant, Iranian, Muslim parents know that her Southern Californian, white, atheist, non-believing, infidel boyfriend -- who she has no intention of marrying anytime soon -- should move in with her. In the process, she doesn't want to get disowned... or forced into an arranged marriage... or end up stoned in a ditch in her parent's backyard. Indeed, it's just your average, everyday story of Boy meets Girl, meets thousands of years of cultural tradition and religious doctrine.
WARNING: The first 3 rows may be converted to Islam.
Bios:
ZAHRA NOORBAKHSH is a writer, actor, solo-performer and stand-up comedian, whose one-woman show All Atheists Are Muslim is grabbing the attention of audiences, making light of Islamophobia with the subtitle, warning: "You may be more Muslim than you think." The title suggests that if Atheist and Muslim ideologies can find common ground than those of us in between can as well. All Atheists Are Muslim premiered in San Francisco's Stage Werx Theatre in Nov. 2010 and, sold-out every performance since its debut.
Noorbakhsh is a graduate of the UC, Berkeley (2006) in Theatre & Performance Studies. Though she began as a stand-up comic, her love of impressions, characters and storytelling drew her into the world of theater and ultimately solo performance. Her work in solo performance began in 2007 under the direction of W. Kamau Bell of the Solo Performance Workshop in SF. Under the direction of Bell, Noorbakhsh has penned several shows, including: All Atheists Are Muslim and Hijab & Hammerpants, another bi-cultural comedy about her coming of age.
Noorbakhsh has appeared in several festivals, including the Solo Performance Workshop Theatre Festival, the SF Theatre Festival, UC Berkeley's Iranian Norouz Festival, and will be performing All Atheists Are Muslim at the Int'l. NYC Fringe Theater Festival in August 2011. She is one-third of the troupe, DISoriented, a trio of Asian American women, performing solo pieces, sketches, and vignettes, nationwide. Noorbakhsh is a member of the Iranian-American Writer's Association, with chapters in SF and NYC, and a contributor to the much anticipated anthology, "Love Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women", due to hit bookstores nationwide, Valentine's Day (2012).
As a stand-up comic, she has performed with international acts: Maz Jobrani from the "Axis of Evil" Comedy Tour, and Shazia Mirza from NBC's "Last Comic Standing." In 2009, representing UC Berkeley at the Aspen National College Comedy Competition presented by Rooftop Comedy, Noorbakhsh and her team won the grand prize as finalists. Her stand-up has toured nationally with the "Five Funny Females" Comedy tour.
Noorbakhsh enjoys participating in and organizing outreach programs that bring theater and filmmaking into the everyday academic curricula of elementary school students. She has worked in partnership with educational programs throughout the Bay Area, and heads her own non-profit venture called, Theater-In-Academics. www.ZahraComedy.com
W. KAMAU BELL (director) is a stand-up comedian and director. His hit solo show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour, made its debut at the NY Fringe Festival in 2009. Upon the show's rave reviews and critical-acclaim, he is touring the show at theaters, festivals, and colleges nationwide. In Aug. 2011 it makes its UK debut at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bell has been named Best Comedian by three different SF Bay Area publications, including the SF Weekly.
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