InterAct Theatre Company: JIHAD JONES & THE KALASHNIKOV BABES

Ashraf is an actor who has just received rave reviews for his performance of Hamlet at a struggling theatre in Los Angeles. But he's only earning $200 a week and he's having trouble paying the bills. He needs his big break. A starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster. And that's just what his smarmy agent is offering: a feature film, big money, working for his favorite director, and playing opposite his favorite Tinsel Town starlet. All Ashraf has to do is play the most stereotypically evil, fanatical Islamic terrorist ever to grace the silver screen. JIHAD JONES follows Ahraf as he battles the infamous slippery slope, while hilariously balancing his personal ethics and cultural pride against his professional ambition.

’s most recent productions: JIHAD JONES AND THE KALASHNIKOV BABES, produced by Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco. OUR ENEMIES: LIVELY SCENES OF LOVE AND COMBAT, produced by Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago, where it was “Jeff Recommended”. Other productions: BACK OF THE THROAT was winner of the 2004 Northwest Playwrights’ Competition held by Theater Schmeater. It won L.A. Weekly’s Excellence in Playwriting Award for 2006. It was also nominated for the 2006 American Theater Critics Associations Steinberg/ New Play Award, and was voted Best New Play of 2005 by the Seattle Times. It was first staged by San Francisco’s Thick Description and Golden Thread Productions; then later presented in various theaters around the country including The Flea Theater in New York. Another play of his, TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH, staged by Silk Road Theatre Project, won the After Dark Award for Best New Play in Chicago in 2006. His two-related one-acts, ACTS OF DESIRE, were staged by the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. BACK OF THE THROAT, and the two related one-acts, now titled, SUCH A BEAUTIFUL VOICE IS SAYEDA’S and KARIMA’S CITY, have been published by Dramatists Play Service. The latter one-acts have also been included in The Best American Short Plays: 2004-2005 to be published by Applause Books in 2008. His play, TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH, is to be included in Salaam/Peace: An Anthology of Middle-Eastern-American Playwrights, to be published by TCG in 2009. Yussef holds an MFA from Carnegie-Mellon University and was playwright-in-residence at Duke University..

co-founded InterAct Theatre Company in 1988, and has since served as Producing Artistic Director. He has directed over 40 productions for InterAct, including Israel Horovitz's LEBENSRAUM (1999 Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play, Outstanding Overall Production of a Play, and Outstanding Ensemble), IT'S ALL TRUE (2001 Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Overall Production), and PERMANENT COLLECTION (2004 Barrymore nomination for Outstanding Overall Production). He has twice been named "Best Director" by the Philadelphia Inquirer for the world premiere of Thomas Gibbons' 6221 in 1993 and for LEBENSRAUM. Other notable productions with InterAct include the world premieres of Thomas Gibbons' BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE, BLACK RUSSIAN and A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS and the Philadelphia premieres of SKIN IN FLAMES, BLUE/ORANGE, NIXON'S NIXON, AUNT DAN AND LEMON, LONELY PLANET, SEASCAPE, and GOD'S COUNTRY. Seth has also directed for the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, Blue Heron Theatre and the 45th Street Theatre in New York, as well as regionally with Act II Playhouse, Venture Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival, and the University of Pennsylvania. As a playwright, Seth is the recipient of two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as The Smith Prize for his play BLACK GOLD. MEN OF STONE and MISSING LINK garnered Barrymore Award nominations for Outstanding New Play in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Seth has served on funding and/or award panels for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Theatre Communications Group, and the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist. He has served on the Boards of the Women's Theatre Festival, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, New Paradise Laboratories, Fresh Visions Youth Theatre, and the National New Play Network (for which he served as Chair from 2002-2006).

During JIHAD JONES..., InterAct will host several post-performance talk-backs to encourage further discussion on the issues it raises. Speaker Sundays, a series featuring invited scholars, community leaders and artists, are scheduled to follow matinee performances on:

Following the 2nd and 3rd Tuesday and Wednesday performances of every play, we invite patrons to grab a brownie and a cup of joe, then join us for Coffee Converstaions, informal discussions with company artists. During JIHAD JONES..., Coffee Converstaions are schduled for Tuesday, April 21; Wednesday, April 22; Tuesday, April 28 and Wednesday, April 29.

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Preview

$15.00

MAY

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For only $35.00* per person, attend your choice of any preview performance
for each of the remaining 3 production in InterAct's 2008/2009 Season.

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