Spooky Motion Theater opens its 2026/27 REMIX season with the American premiere of Hakawatis: Girls of the Arabian Nights by Irish Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil, with contributions from Hanan Al-Shaykh, Suhayla El- Bushra and Sara Shaarawi, and translations by Hassan Abdulrazzak. Directed by Mekala Sridhar and that includes Gigi Cammaroto, Surasree Das, Gowri Koneswaran, Raghad Makhlouf, and Laura Zee, Hakawatis, a feminist reimagining of the basic story of the Arabian Nights, is offered in affiliation with Solas Nua and runs September 24 – October 18, 2026 at Spooky Motion’s dwelling at Universalist Nationwide Memorial Church, 1810 sixteenth St NW, Washington, DC.
ABOUT THE PLAY
‘Hakawati /hakəˈwɑːti/. Noun: Storyteller. From the Arabic phrases “hekaye” that means “story,” and “haki” that means “to speak.”
A tyrant avenges his spouse’s infidelity by marriage ceremony, bedding and beheading a brand new bride every single day. Years later, solely 5 brides-in-waiting stay. These girls are unapologetic, and united of their battle to maintain themselves – and the entire of womankind – alive. They’ve acquired different concepts for his or her future, and it begins with a narrative. On this London Globe hit by Irish-Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil, you’ll be captivated by tales which might be humorous, raunchy, and harmful – and a matter of life and loss of life.
Content material transparency: accommodates sturdy and sexual language, and themes of oppression and slavery.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Hannah Khalil, with contributions from Hanan Al-Shaykh, Suhayla El- Bushra and Sara Shaarawi. Translations by Hassan Abdulrazzak.
Hannah Khalil (Playwright) is Author in Residence at Bristol Previous Vic (2025-2030). Her current work consists of critically acclaimed My English Persian Kitchen which had a sellout run on the Traverse as a part of the Edinburgh Pageant in August 2024, then transferred to Soho Theatre, London. It returned to London in Autumn 2025 adopted by a UK and Irish tour. It opens at The Atlas in DC this fall produced by Mosaic Theater Firm and Solas Nua. Additionally Love Omar at Teatro Technis. Hannah was the 2022 Resident Author at Shakespeare’s Globe, whereas there the Globe produced three of her performs: Hakawatis: Girls of the Arabian Nights, Henry VIII, and The Fir Tree (2021 and 2022). Her different stage performs embody A Museum in Baghdad (Royal Shakespeare Firm) which marked the primary play by a lady of Arab heritage on a major stage on the RSC, Interference (Nationwide Theatre of Scotland), and the critically acclaimed Scenes from 68* Years – shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award (Arcola Theatre, London, 2016). Her first libretto for a brand new Key Stage 2 Opera referred to as The Nice Stink toured the UK in 2024 with English Touring Opera. Hannah held the Heimbold Chair of Irish Research at Villanova College in 2021 and was a Inventive Fellow of the Samuel Beckett Archive for 2021/2022. She co-conceived and acted as co-artistic director for the Not Beckett Worldwide Pageant of New Performs. She is at present an Honorary Fellow of Birkbeck College. In 2022, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Hannah is an Affiliate Artist of Shakespeare’s Globe.
ABOUT THE TEAM
CAST: options affiliate artists returning to Spooky Motion, Surasree Das (The Dragon, Frontieres sans Frontieres) and Helen Hayes Award nominee Raghad Makhlouf (The Dragon, Agreste (Drylands), Sonnets for an Previous Century) with Gigi Cammaroto, Gowri Koneswaran, and Laura Zee making their debuts with the corporate.
PRODUCTION: Mekala Sridhar (Director), Giorgos Tsappas (Scenic Design), William Okay. D’Eugenio (Lighting Design), Navi (Sound Design/Composer), Cidney Forkpah (Costume Design), Johnna Presby (Puppetry Design and Properties), Robert Bowen Smith and Rex Daugherty (Motion Co-Administrators), Layali Aljirafi (Choreography Guide), Grace Rodriguez (Stage Supervisor), and Franklin Ruiz (Technical Director).
DATES & TICKETS
Hakawatis: Girls of the Arabian Nights, offered by Spooky Motion Theater in affiliation with Solas Nua, runs September 24 to October 18, 2026 at Universalist Nationwide Memorial Church, 1810 sixteenth St NW, Washington, DC. with performances Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2 pm, plus an Trade Evening efficiency Monday, September 28 at 7:30pm, and added Wednesday efficiency, October 14 at 7:30pm. Buy tickets on-line.
The UNMC is an older venue and is at present not accessible to wheelchairs.
- All tickets are Basic Admission and vary from Pay-What-You-Can to $50.
- Tickets for the opening week performances Thurs, Sept. 24 at 7:30pm, Fri, Sept. 25 at 7:30pm and Solar, Sept. 27 at 2pm are all Pay-What-You-Can, accessible on-line prematurely, and in individual the day of the present, relying on availability.
- Tickets for performances October 1 to 18 (inclusive of charges) are $50 and a restricted quantity of $17 Economic system value tickets for every efficiency.
- Scholar/Senior reductions (inclusive of charges): Scholar Admission is $25 with a sound Scholar ID to be proven at will name. Senior Residents, 65 years of age and over, will obtain $10 OFF full-price tickets, $40.
- Submit-Present discussions will probably be scheduled, TBD.
ABOUT THE THEATERS
Spooky Motion Theater is an award-winning skilled theater positioned close to DC’s Dupont and Logan Circle neighborhoods. Based in 2004, SAT takes its identify from a phenomenon of quantum mechanics wherein particles turn into entangled – so {that a} change in a single is without end mirrored by change within the different. SAT recharges folks’s intuitive and emotional core by linking artists and audiences in a shared act of creativeness that leaves all events remodeled. SAT levels and develops groundbreaking performs by numerous writers throughout the globe, trains the following era of artists, empowers college students to specific themselves, and companions with mission-aligned organizations to highlight very important themes.
Hakawatis is produced in affiliation with Solas Nua.
Solas Nua – ‘new mild’ in Irish, is devoted solely to up to date Irish arts. Based in 2005, Solas Nua acts as an envoy and advocate for Irish arts within the US, selling up to date Irish tradition, multi-disciplinary arts, and creativity. Solas Nua commissions, produces, and presents thought-provoking and groundbreaking work throughout genres, work that’s cross-cultural, representing as we speak’s Eire — a recent, globally numerous society — and reflecting how Irish tradition is shared throughout borders, ethnicity, and financial strains.
