How can we think of queerness as a form of political intervention? In this episode, we talk with Erdem Avşar about Turkish theatre, queer utopias, and ghosts. We examine queer dramaturgies in Turkish and international theatre, discuss translation into and from Turkish, re-think temporality in playwriting, and question what queer utopias look like onstage. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by
co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and
analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African
(MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across
the region.
Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers,
spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and
analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the
United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and
Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special
guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and
discussion.
The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best
way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and
perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to
share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our
differences. In each country in the region, you’ll find kunafa made
differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity,
and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.
