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Sep 8, 2021 44 tweets 18 min read Read on X
I am beyond excited about this!

The world premiere of Theatre for One, Nairobi Edition by @NYUADArtsCenter

1 audience member. 1 performer.1 micro play

I've been working on this for months & it's so precious to me. I'll share some process in a thread
Week One sold out within hours, but you can get (free) tickets for Week Two if you keep an eye on this link.

They should be going on sale in the next hour or so...I'll let you know

#TheatreForOne

nyuad-artscenter.org/en_US/events/2…
I'm prepping for my tech rehearsal...so here's a song for you, this one very specifically I was listening to as I wrote the very first draft, and it definitely seeped into the piece

#TheInterview #TheatreForOne

And some photos that led up to here...

#TheInterview #TheatreForOne ImageImageImageImage
Tech rehearsal done!

(Three time zones, three continents, an incredible crew, one tiny location, many cables, charcoal under my fingernails, under my eyes, under my lips, gratitude on my tongue)

#TheInterview
#TheatreForOne ImageImage
(to be performing in community with these 5 other incredible writer performers, eish!

Mumbi Kaigwa
Sitawa the Third Namwalie
Mercy Mutisya
Anne Moraa
Laura Ekumbo

My, goodness (as Mithu would say), what an honour. Image
A sort of start...

(When we were little, in my Nana Bapa's home, once a week we'd brush our teeth with this.. dip our damp fingertips into the fine black powder, then rub our teeth, and grin charcoal gummed into the mirror to delight each other) Image
This afternoon in experiments
1) How long does the coal need to be lit before I add the oud?
2) When making anjar is it better to use cotton pads or wool?
3) How much ghee should the cotton gulp?
4) What's the best way to remove anjar from flesh?
#TheInterview #TheatreForOne Image
Today is (so far)
- disappearing mouse's/mice
- unlatching microphones
- tape that won't stick
- little balls of fire
- bone deep exhaustion

Though I did figure out cotton wool works better than cotton pads

(Look at those golden tipped clouds) Image
(an aftermath)

#TheInterview
#TheatreForOne ImageImageImageImage
(I am so excited to be performing again...it's been so so so long...& even though I'm so tired, there's an aliveness inside me, a sort of buzzing energy that I'm so grateful for... And the Theatre For One crew are extraordinary, coordinating this tech virtually from 3 time zones)
Charging my energy...with light, with air, with breath, in blues and through the greens...

(So much of the piece I perform is in darkness and smoke, that it feels urgent to emerge and gulp down fresh air)

#TheInterview #TheatreForOne ImageImage
Sigh

Today is broken glass, broken ceramic, falling blankets, falling blankets, falling blankets

No internet

Well, what did I expect...that Badr wouldn't exact a price from me?
(by the end of this run my set is going to smells like a desi bride's groin)

#TheInterview
(Badr dreams in neon) ImageImage
Yesterday's tech runs were just extraordinary....reflecting on how many professionals from different parts of the world have come together over so many hours to make this happen
Cotton pads are less flammable than cotton wool.

This is a wonderful discovery
When I was a newborn, every day my great grandmother used to come home and massage my limbs. And then she'd prepare all the things needed to make anjar, so my mum could smudge the soot behind my ear to ward off the evil eye

Today, I miss her.

#TheInterview
#TheatreForOne Image
(of course, what was I to expect...that they wouldn't exact a price? ...all I can say is I am deeply grateful for the mercy they are showing in what they ask from me) Image
This is not me

#TheInterview
#TheatreForOne Image
(me, I am in awe of how the crew and tech team manage the machinations behind all of this...the team that you don't get to see...that we often don't get to see...just incredible...it's one of my favourite things about theatre, how much it is a collaborative endeavour)
Opening night
2 hours
Possibly up to 10 runs
10 human audience members
And so I am preparing...for each one their own flame, their own protection

#TheInterview
#TheatreForOne Image
For tonight's shows, on an almost full moon, I warm you up with this track

(The fragrance of oud reminds me of the fragrance of henna...And at the core, this piece is about love...this show is about connection)

I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight

Full disclosure - Mithu is visiting, so if you're attending today's performances, I can't 💯 promise we won't get a surprise guest 😂
Mithu was outside the door, waiting for me to finish, and when I came out, he said Masi, can we go feed the birds?

#IfYouKnowYouKnow
Today was just beautiful Image
Thank you @NYUADArtsCenter for this beautiful bouquet.

Theatre folk, when was the last time your received flowers? 😭

(It's been so special creating these theatrical experiences with people from around the world....I can't wait for tonight) ImageImage
We are here

(Listening to Abida Parveen as I set up) Image
(spent - a wonderful run but back to back to backs take a lot out - grateful for a shower and for bed) Image
This evening, breathing and gathering energy with this hypnotic song from Susheela Raman, shared by @activecultures

(come as you are beloved, we are here, as we are) Image
(an aftermath, tracing lines of protection) Image
Badr lives in the bathroom
It reminds them of the ocean Image
A cleansing as I clean

(With prayers for breath for peace for love for kindness for relief for laughter for freedom for you for you for you)

(reluctant to leave) Image
(today one of the humans across the screen from me was smoking, and all I wanted was to reach across and pluck it from his fingers, take a deep deep drag into my lungs, and pass it back to him)
Last night there was a lot of grief shared

We made room for it together, and allowed it to take up space

And today the layers of it stay seeped into my flesh, lingering like the fragrance of oud in my hair.

It is a lot

May today be extra gentle with all of us
Feeling a little mournful about having to say goodbye to Badr (in the way we've been intimate the last few months)
(still...) Image
(That rain. And this power. May it hold out till the close of closing night)
Lol.

The power went.

Of course.
Khuda Hafiz Badr Image
( the morning after ) ImageImage
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More from @aleyakassam

Jan 14, 2023
'For our Mithus, in this world here and all the others.

May you know the women who made you.

And

For our Mothers, the ones that birth and all the others.

May you be remembered, always.'

#HaldiAndHoney
(The first staging)
(before the journey begins, whispering gratitude and wishing the flowers)


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(two little birds fly past me, swooping through Terminal 5 at JFK and fluttering away)
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Dec 25, 2020
Early this year, a palm tree in the garden exploded in flowers...delicate fragrant creamy petaled flowers

We have been with the tree for over a decade and it had never flowered before.

It was just so beautiful.
The flowers remained for several weeks, and after they fell the the ground, they revealed a twisty knobbly network of branches that stretched up the sky.

It looked like a tree was growing out of the tree.

And at their tips were globules that looked like berries.
After a few months, the branches sort of fell off.
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Sep 18, 2020
Today's samosa cleansing is courtesy of @WauEats Herbed Cheese samosas, which is doing it's farewell lap.

Today & tomorrow are the last days you can order these schwangy 'Beyonce' of Wau as they've been called by a WauLoved

If you'd like to order peep details on the poster ImageImage
In celebration of these deliciousness, and in case you're wondering whether they are really worth that title; here is what WauLoveds say about them Image
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Sep 15, 2020
I wanted to write something special to celebrate my 2 year quit, but I still have a long list on my to do's and I'm exhausted after an intense day...so here's a thread from the early quit days Image
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Read 10 tweets
Sep 10, 2020
Yesterday's eyebrow raising news about the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) had me wondering about how we will feel the implications of this in our lives...

& it had me remembering a story about KMC from a lifetime ago

Bungoma, bumper harvests & burning bean cobs

A story thread
Many years ago I lived in Bungoma, working for an NGO.

At one point I was assisting with research looking at kitchen gardens, and how HIV/AIDS in the area was affecting farming...who was doing the farming, what was being grown, what it was being grown for...
It's been over a decade, but this particular story I haven't been able to forget

An elderly woman was telling us about the ways in which they used to farm & cook when she was much younger

Bungoma is lush with a treasure trove of delicious and nutritious indigenous vegetables
Read 17 tweets
Aug 26, 2020
Here we go

A Chicken Tikka thread

A meandering unraveling

(Thinking about origins, adaptations, memories)
In my search for information about the origins of Chicken Tikka, I had to wade through pages and pages of references to Chicken Tikka Masala

Some say that the Chicken Tikka Masala was named/coopted/has become the national dish of the UK (you won't find it anywhere else)
Some also say, that it was developed by mistake in a restaurant in Glasgow... a (I'm sure hywite) customer ordered Chicken Tikka, then complained that it was too dry.

So the chef poured a a can of Campbell's tomato soup over it, stirred it up & added a dollop of cream
Read 19 tweets

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