Hijabi Monologues Final Report
Prepared by Arfa Aijazi
November 6, 2010
Summary
The Hijabi Monologues was performed on Friday October 22, 2010 in Kresge Little
Theater to a full house. The event was free and non-ticketed. Door opened at around 7:00
pm and the performances began at 7:35 pm. The actors effectively delivered their
performance, which was accented with special lighting effects and sound effects.
Additionally a screen was hung where key words and phrases from the monologues were
displayed to aid the audience. Following the monologues and cast and crew hosted a
question and answer session. We also had two invited guests Najiba Akbar and Nancy
Khalil help lead the question and answer session.
The event program with information about monologues performed and the cast and crew
is enclosed. Notably, the cast and crew are diverse in academic backgrounds and previous
theater experiences. Six of the members of the cast and crew are current MIT students:
Arfa Aijazi, Yassine Ezzyat, Deeni Fatiha, Katy Geros, Laila Wahedi, and Anna
Waldman-Brown; and Zahra Khan is MIT alum.
Timeline
We initiated communication with the Hijabi Monologues events manager in April 2010
and obtained the script in September 2010. We held auditions September 18-21, 2010.
We released decisions September 23 and distributed the scripts September 26. Our first
rehearsal was Saturday October 2 and thereupon every Saturday morning and Wednesday
evening for approximately 2 hours. We added rehearsals on October 19, 20, and 21 i.e.
the week of the performance. Lighting was set up by E33 on October 19 and a full tech
rehearsal was held on October 21.
Challenges
Before the performance our major hurdles were communicating with Hijabi Monologues
in order to obtain the script and find out more information about the play. Our
communications were solely through email, which by default instills a time delay for
even simple questions. We also felt the group was asking for too much control over the
script – we had limited options in the arrangement of the monologues and were not
allowed to change wording of the monologues.
We initially planned to hold our performance in 6-120, but thanks to the help of Mike
Katz in the MIT Theatre department we were able to transfer MIT Dramashop’s
reservation of Kresge Little Theatre and perform there instead which was our preferred
venue initially but it was unavailable. The new venue gave us more options with lighting
so we pursued the help of MIT’s E33. We also borrowed the screen from Mike Katz, onto
which we rear projected select words and phrases from the monologues to aid the
audience. Addition stage items include a table with a black tablecloth for the projector, a
folding chair for the monologue “Knock at the Door” and 10 folding chairs for the
question and answer session, and a stool for the monologues “Hitting on a Hijabi” and
“I’m Tired”.
Another obstacle we faced was securing rehearsal time the week of the performance. We
are grateful that MIT Dramashop was willing to move their rehearsal locations for that
week but we had difficulties confirming with them when we could use the space. Finally
Mike Katz overruled and gave us permission to use KLT the week of the performance.
Funding
To cover event costs we received a Directors Grant from the Council for the Arts (CAC),
MIT, MIT Department of Women and Gender Studies (WGS), and Weekends@MIT. We
were able to include MIT WGS in our printed materials, but we received funding from
CAC and Weekends@MIT the day of the final performance we were unable to include
them in our printed materials. However, all the financial sponsors are listed on the event’s
facebook page, were included in the introductory PowerPoint on loop while the audience
filled in, and were mentioned by the director in the introduction.
Future plans
Due to the overwhelming audience feedback we are planning to make Hijabi Monologues
an annual event. For future years we hope to make KLT reservations much earlier so we
can avoid the scheduling conflicts we had this year. We also hope to apply for funding
earlier so a) we will have a better sense of how much money we have available during
planning and b) so we can properly attribute sources. We also hope to obtain the script
earlier. We are looking to form some kind of partnership with Hijabi Monologues or
break away from the group entirely and write some of our own monologues.
Pictures
Technical Director Zahra Khan operates the projector
Performance Director Deeni Fatiha gives the show’s introduction
Enas Alnajjar in “Hitting on a Hijabi”
Enas Alnajjar in “Hitting on a Hijabi”
Shazia Farhat in “I’m Tired”
Safiya Naidjate in “Hijab Protectors
Safiya Naidjate in “Hijab Protectors”
Salma Khattab in “Knock on the Door”
Salma Khattab in “Knock on the Door”
Laila Wahedi in “People you Meet”
Laila Wahedi in “People you Meet”
Laila Wahedi in “People you Meet”
Carly Dwyer in “People you Meet”
Carly Dwyer in “People you Meet”
Arfa Aijazi in “People you Meet”
The HM crew during curtain call
The HM crew during curtain call
The HM crew during curtain cal
Recognizing the work of our director
Najiba Akbar, Nancy Khalil, and Zahra Khan (L to R) during Question and Answer
Laila Wahedi during Question and Answer
All in all the event was very successful and we are grateful for Weekends@MIT’s
funding.
Thanks.