Instagram story viewer> @humairaghilzai> Tagged

Humaira Ghilzai

@humairaghilzai

1.7K

followers

908

following

Human.
Afghan Cultural Producer |Dialect Coach|Writer|Activist|
My opinions are my own.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

So excited that Humaira Ghilzai and I will be taking our play PILGRIMAGE to DC next month, where we will work on it in residency at the Lab at Georgetown University!

We'll get the change to dive further into these characters and their story and make this play the most compelling it can be.

#PilgrimagePlay #GeorgetownUniversity #NewPlayDevelopment

7

4

To highlight our amazing composition team, here's an excerpt from the original song 'Choice' by Lead Composer and Director of Audiography @wingdynasty87 of @lafamiliawing, which served as the finale music to our most recent show "復興 What Makes Us Great Again? The Hajj of Syed Muhammad Shamsuddin Al-Bukhari (Admiral Cheng Ho)

To join our music and composition team, our dance team, or any of our other amazing teams and departments, apply today via the #LinkInBio by August 31st

🎵 @wingdynasty87
📷 @jujubeleaflet
🧠 @sc.lee @stefaniechen9688

#auditions #ost #composition

10

1

Don't miss Cristina Jiménez's story and Anneke Campbell's interview with this extraordinary activist and MacArthur fellow on All-American Story on Substack coming this Wednesday (link in bio)

107

3

Even though we're called Bay Area Independent Chinese Dancers, Chinese dance is just a dance style, not an identity. We're open to members of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and national origins who want to tell their own stories, wherever we may come from.

Apply by August 31st to our dance, creative, and technical teams, open to beginners and experienced contributors in every department.

#unityindiversity #taiwanwseamerican #anakmalaysia #singaporedance #chinesedance

16

1

Back in Bay thanks to my Angel Sharks. Yes, ALS SUCKS, but it’s not taking my joy, not today.
#alsawareness #alssupport #cureals #youralsnetwork

59

10

Humaira Ghilzai is a playwright, cultural dramaturg, dialect coach and script consultant. Theatre Credits: The Kite Runner - Broadway, Heartland - Off-Broadway, Selling Kabul, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Blood and Gifts, The Most Dangerous Highway in the World, Slow Falling Birds. Opera: A Thousand Splendid Suns. Film & TV credits: Little America, Merry Friggin Christmas, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and Away and Together.

Come see a reading of her play, The Longest War at @bk_arthaus May 2 at 7p!

Tickets in bio! In partnership with @noortheatre

39

1

May 2, 7p at @bk_arthaus Tickets in bio!

𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫 by Humaira Ghilzai

Across 7,000 miles and a fragile WhatsApp connection, two best friends Nargis and Pari hold onto each other as their hopes, dreams, and secrets unravel. Nargis, newly arrived in America, scrapes by cleaning motel rooms, struggles to keep up with her classes, and holds her family together as her parents falter under the weight of starting over. Life is far from the American dream she had imagined. Pari and her family, still in Kabul, are hiding from the Taliban. She faces a shrinking world where education, financial independence, and travel are no longer possible for her, only survival through a forced marriage. Their long-awaited call stitches together memories of teenage crushes, a Barbie doll tossed into a fire pit in a panic, vision boards and who deserves to dream. Longest War is a one-act, short play.

In partnership with @noortheatre Tickets in bio!

78

5

We’re excited to announce that auditions for our new mainstage play, “Pilgrimage,” by @humairaghilzai and @bdportman will be held on Sunday, 4/26/2026, 4-7 pm, in our theater space at Cherry Street Village, 720 25th Ave, Seattle, 98122. Play synopsis: Five women embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Noor, an Afghan American immigrant, must fulfill her sister’s last wish. Her daughter, Maryam, a tech CEO, seeks to evade her legal woes, while Noor’s nieces—estranged sisters Sosan and Nadia—must complete the pilgrimage to claim their inheritance. Meanwhile, Fatima, a Black Muslim convert and Nadia’s best friend, hopes to find her biological mother. A perfect storm! For full audition details and options, see link in our bio. 💫 #dunyaproductions #audition #actor #muslim #pilgrimage

42

3

BAH
We will close our the festival with three nights of music, readings, and theater performances at Brooklyn Art Haus @bk_arthaus
May 1 @ 7p: Night One opens with an evening rooted in Iranian and Afghan traditional music, centering sound, heritage, and cultural memory.

In partnership with Noor Theatre @noortheatre
May 2 @ 7p: Night Two brings together three distinct theatrical works. The evening begins with a musical reading, Cheeks Rosy from Slapping, followed by a reading of Longest War by Humaira Ghilzai, where two best friends, Nargis and Pari, remain connected across 7,000 miles through a fragile WhatsApp call as they navigate life in America and Kabul under Taliban rule. The night culminates in KISMET, a two-person, actor-driven play about a Turkish immigrant couple who unexpectedly find themselves on stage and begin performing their journey from Istanbul to the U.S.–Mexico border. Using minimal props and direct address, the piece moves between humor and heartbreak, asking what it means to start over. Together, these works offer a powerful, multi-form portrait of migration, identity, and resilience.

May 3 @ 7p: Night Three features two distinct yet resonant theatrical works that interrogate power, truth, and the politics of knowledge. Ceasefire Later! is a modular, multilingual choreopoem built entirely from found and verbatim text, tracing the narratives and propaganda surrounding the genocide in Gaza after October 7, 2023. This is followed by a piano solo by Niayesh Javaheri. The evening concludes with Testament of Bondar Bidakhsh by Bahram Beyzaie, with new translation by, Nikta Sabouri and Saul Richard Chason, which reimagines a Persian myth through the lens of naqqāli, with two storytellers offering competing accounts of a king and his vizier.

Ticket in bio!

101

0

It’s rare to be in a room with artists who refuse to stop—through dictatorship, exile, inequality, and war. In difficult times, art becomes a tool for survival, reflection, and action—not escape.

Augusto Boal has always guided me:
“Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.”

This year, we bring a lineup of powerful work by incredible artists from around the world and the SWANA/MENA diaspora.

Join us for 7 nights of music, film, and theatre—gathering for healing, empowerment, deep listening, community, and joy.

I am forever grateful lucky and honored to collaborate with such incredible team @niloufar.nourbakhsh @lilia.joon @hodaillustrations

Tickets are on sale. Follow @emruzfest.nyc and let us guide you to the stage 💙

Artwork by @hodaillustrations

65

1

Announcing our 2026 Biennial Lineup! ✨
April 25–26, 29–30 • May 1–3

Join us at Nublu, Scholes Street Studio, Cheers Cinema, and Brooklyn Art Haus for this year’s EMRUZ Biennial Festival.

Featuring exceptional artists from the SWANA/Middle Eastern diaspora—inside and outside the U.S.—across film, music, theater, and visual arts.

More ticket information to come.

Art by: Hoda Ramy @hodaillustrations

283

14

In this special time for the Persian-American community, we want to share with you the source the Persian language title of this show. We are inspired poem by Bidel, who's family were originally Turks from Bukhara just like Admiral Cheng Ho's ancestor Syed Ajjal, but was born Azimabad (today's Patna in the Indian State of Bihar), and composed largely Persian Ghazals under Emperor Aurungzeb in Delhi. He never lived in Iran proper, but othering, exile, and greatness were written deeply into his story too.

Join us in re-examining the past to ask what truly makes us great.
🎟️ Tickets: https://our.show/great (link in bio)
📅 Sat, Mar 21 | 7:00 PM
📍 Creativity Theatre at @creativitykids

Director: @sc.lee
Co Director: @stefaniechen9688
Assist. Directors: @gen_evievehh4 @shirleyburst

Head of Dramaturgy: Xiaoyu (Mary) Liu
Assist. Dramaturg: Natalia Demko
Honourary Dramaturg Prof.: @emilyewilcox

MC/Script Consultant: @humairaghilzai

Production and Stage Manager: Jordan Lian
House Manager and Director of Development: @sweetnlowe202
Assist. Grant Writer: @abiwithagail and Arabella Tan

Head of Visual Design: @erinpanguin
Assist. Visual Designer: Chevy

Technical Director and Head of Lighting Design: Alex Wong
Assist. Lighting and Sound Designer: @kewong215

Director of Photography: @shawnli_photo
Company Photographer and Assist. Videographer: @jujubeleaflet

Director of Audiography: @wingdynasty87

Dancers: @sc.lee @stefaniechen9688 @gen_evievehh4 @shirleyburst @priskillahh @mindalynsanity , Arabella, and @chennala
Guest Choreographers: @baigali_and_dancers @calcelerity
Guest Composer and Carnatic Violinist: @sruti.sarathy
Guest Carnatic Vocalist: @janani4oakland

Supporters: @dancersgroupsf @eastbaycf @sanfranciscofoundation @alamedacountyartscommission

Fiscal Sponsor: @shawlanderson

#bayareadance #sfdance #chinesedance #asianarts #古典舞

3

1