The Pipeline Festival: THE CAST OF THE RUG DEALER

Farah Bala (Shiraz) Originally from Bombay, India, Farah is an actor, producer & leadership coach based in NY. Barrymore Award Nomination for Outstanding Leading Actress (alongside theatre veteran Anna Deavere Smith). MFA Theater: Sarah Lawrence College; 2-year recipient of the Fezana Performing Arts Award. Select Theatre: Tales from the Tunnel; Honor Killing; In the Book Of; One-woman show To The Death of My Own Family, Macbeth, Two Gentlemen of Verona. Select Film & TV: Entre Nos; The War Within; Karma, Confessions and Holi; Broad City. New play development at The Actors Studio, Labyrinth, Women’s Project, Red Bull, Rising Circle, The Lark, Ma Yi, among others. Profiled in Umbrage Edition’s national award winning book, GREEN CARD STORIES – one of 50 profiles of recent immigrant stories from around the world. farahbala.com

Soraya Broukhim (Azar) NYC Theatre Credits: Petrol Station (NYU/BAM), No Place to Hide (The Living Theatre, Bread & Puppet Theatre), I am Gordafarid (NYTW & Rising Circle), Soundwaves: The Passion of Noor Inayat Khan (Fringe), Blackbird (One woman show, Schmucks Theatre), Here We Are, History of the World, SMOPS, Korach by Judith Malina (The Living Theatre), Red Tent Fabrik (JoyceSoho), Antigone, Betrothed (Ripe Time), Gut Girls (Chocolate Factory), Woyzeck (CultureProject), Innocent Erendira (Here), Logic of the Birds (Lincoln Center). Regional Theatre: Scorched (Syracuse Stage), In the Heart of America (Interact Co. PA), Wintertime (San Jose Rep), Afghan Women (Passage Theatre, NJ), Sodom & Gomorrah (O’Neill  Playwrights Conference), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (CT), & Blue Demon (WTF) dir. Darko Tresnjak. Europe: Antigone (Romania, UNESCO/ITI). TV/Film: “Madam Secretary,” Xenophilia, Flat Tire, Headshot, Rosewater, America 1979, Eugenia & John, An Encounter with Simone Weil, The Push. Graduate of Fordham University LC, BAADA, NTI, & St. Petersburg Arts Theatre Academy. Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Fordham University and Artistic Associate of the Living Theatre. sorayabroukhim.com

Edward A. Hajj (Raba) is delighted to be a part of the first ever “Pipeline Festival.” New York credits include: Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre, New Georges, NAATCO, The Cherry Lane, Lark, New Dramatists, Naked Angels, Lincoln Center & EST.  Regional: Actors Theatre, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf, Alliance, InterAct. Many thanks to Rachel, Lee, Riti, Lisa and the WP staff, my acting partners and the “rug-dealing” production team. The best is yet to come. edwardhajj.com

Rita Wolf (Mariam) started her career with the Royal Court Youth Theatre in London. Her first professional job was Joint Stock Theatre Co’s Borderline by Hanif Kureishi. She has gone on to a career in theatre, TV and film which in the US includes Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul at NYTW, BAM and Mark Taper Forum, David Grieg’s The American Pilot at MTC (Drama Desk nomination) and A.R. Gurney’s O, Jerusalem at The Flea. In 1991 she co-founded Kali Theatre Co in London to produce exclusively the work of female South Asian Theatre practitioners. Their latest show The Dishonoured by Aamina Ahmad opened in London this March.

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When Raba Zacharai suddenly passes away, his daughter Shiraz inherits the prominent Persian rug shop he built in New Haven after leaving Iran in 1979. After diving into a love affair with a dangerously beautiful customer and discovering her mother’s secret longing to return to her homeland after years in exile, Shiraz must negotiate the costly business of carpets, family, duty, and desire. #RugDealerPlay

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@WomensProject #PipelineFestival / #WPLab