DIRECTING
PLAYLAB
UMASS AMHERST 2014
PlayLab is a crucible for new work. A professional playwright and two UMass student playwrights are given the opportunity to workshop productions of their newest plays — works that represent fresh voices, big ideas, and envelope-pushing modes of storytelling. PlayLab projects have continued on to further development in regional and New York theaters. Al-Bilali has been an actor, director, and Directing Advisor for PlayLab.
PLAYLAB 2014 PHOTO GALLERY>>>
UMASS AMHERST 2014
PlayLab is a crucible for new work. A professional playwright and two UMass student playwrights are given the opportunity to workshop productions of their newest plays — works that represent fresh voices, big ideas, and envelope-pushing modes of storytelling. PlayLab projects have continued on to further development in regional and New York theaters. Al-Bilali has been an actor, director, and Directing Advisor for PlayLab.
PLAYLAB 2014 PHOTO GALLERY>>>
VENUS BY SUZAN-LORI PARKS
UMASS AMHERST 2013
In Venus, Suzan-Lori Parks remembers and re-imagines the historical figure of Sarah Baartman, known to the world as “the Hottentot Venus.” In the early 19th century, Baartman, a Khoisan woman from South Africa, was taken from her country and displayed across Europe as a freak and a medical anomaly for her large
buttocks. Venus examines how mainstream culture views Black female bodies. Al-Bilali's Venus uses Baartman’s story and the medium of theater as a powerful platform to ask audience members to consider what it means to watch, to be seen, and to engage in a performance.
VENUS PROGRAM (with Director's Note)>>>
VENUS GALLERY>>>
WATCH THE SHOW>>>
UMASS AMHERST 2013
In Venus, Suzan-Lori Parks remembers and re-imagines the historical figure of Sarah Baartman, known to the world as “the Hottentot Venus.” In the early 19th century, Baartman, a Khoisan woman from South Africa, was taken from her country and displayed across Europe as a freak and a medical anomaly for her large
buttocks. Venus examines how mainstream culture views Black female bodies. Al-Bilali's Venus uses Baartman’s story and the medium of theater as a powerful platform to ask audience members to consider what it means to watch, to be seen, and to engage in a performance.
VENUS PROGRAM (with Director's Note)>>>
VENUS GALLERY>>>
WATCH THE SHOW>>>
