About the Play "Bride of the Gulf"

​Amidst the violence that engulfed southern Iraq after the British withdrawal of 2007, a sharp-witted Iraqi woman goes in search of her missing husband at the behest of her mother-in-law.

When creating the play for the Basra to Boston project, we drew on a transnational collaboration that took place from 2016 to 2018, as well as playwrights' memories of Iraq in 2007 as a U.S. soldier.

Bride of The Gulf is a new play that tackles the normality of war in Basra, Iraq through the deep, yet hostile relationship between a widow and her mother-in-law.
​
An immersive tapestry of a fascinating place.”
​The Scotsman
* * * * (four stars)
​Thanks to our amazing collaborators!

​Thinkery &Verse Artistic Directors: Karen Alvarado and J. M. Meyer Creative Team Playwright: J. M. Meyer (John M. Meyer)("Johnny"). Director: Karen Alvarado. Dramaturg: Dr. Samir Talib. Basra-to-Boston Project Leads: Amir Al-Azraki, Anne Loyer, Amy Merrill, Marc Miller. Basrawi Poet: Elham Al-Zabaedy. Basrawi Composer: Qais Ouda.  American Composer: Sean Ullmer. Technical/Design Technical Director: Douglas Mackie. Lighting Design: Douglas Mackie.  Set Design: Ashley Basile.  Props: Ashley Basile.  Slides: Ashley Basile.  Photographs of Basra: Ayman Ali Hussein.  Costumes: Liza Alexis.  Stage manager: Jacqueline Mercer. Asst. Stage Manager: Lydia Forsythe. Business Director: Sara Billeax. Transliteration, Translation, Recordings Abishek Nair. Noor Chalhoub. Omar Dewachi. Abbas Jasim. Rawan Jasim. 
Acting Ensemble  Karen Alvarado. Sufi Malhotra. Monica Vilela.  Miguel de Oliveira.  Maia Karo. Tshiwela Nematswerani. Matthew Petrucelli. Sean Ullmer. Special Thanks The Wall Street Group Printing. Kevin Little. Amy Merrill.  Fort Point Theatre Channel. C Venues. St. John the Evangelist in New Brunswick, NJ.

A Narrative of the Play's Development

In the spring of 2017, an acting ensemble from the conservatory at Rutgers Mason Gross began rehearsing "Bride of the Gulf," a play built through a collaboration with artists from Basra, Iraq, and that originated as a part of the Basra to Boston festival from Fort Pointe Theatre Channel. The Thinkery & Verse ensemble draws on America's ethnic and cultural diversity, and instead of looking solely inward, chooses to look outward at the broader global fabric. 

"Bride of the Gulf" previewed in a proscenium space as a part of the Hudson Guild Theatre's Winterfest program in New York City on February 27th, Feb 28th, and March 3rd. 

The play then appeared in a traverse configuration in New Brunswick, New Jersey at the Assembly Hall of St. John the Evangelists. 

​In August 2018, Thinkery & Verse brought "Bride of the Gulf" to C Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe for its international debut and world premiere. 

Development Timeline of the Play

BRIDE OF THE GULF/ 2017/2018
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Conservatory artists from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts workshop the play, expand it, and perform the play in Manhattan, NYC, and New Brunswick, New Jersey.

BRIDE premieres at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to critical acclaim and four-star reviews, and earns the least Euro-centric audience of the 2018 festival.
BRIDES LOOK FORWARD / 2016

​Amy Merrill recruits J. M. Meyer to contribute to the Fort Pointe Theatre Channel's Basra-to-Boston Project, a multi-disciplinary artistic collaborative between artists in Basra, Iraq, and the northeastern United States.

​Drawing on his own experiences with Iraqi interpreters in 2007 and 2008, he writes Brides Look Forward, a short play that receives two public readings in Boston, USA, and a private reading and public performance in Basra, Iraq.

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