A Co-Production with SFBATCO
Arab Spring
by Denmo Ibrahim
A biting comedy about loss, grief, and the wars we wage in family
Yusef, a recovering addict, and Dina, his controlling big sister, return on the 4th of July to the suburbs to bury their deadbeat Dad. As they rush to pull off an Islamic burial before his body goes cold, they’re forced to confront what family actually means. Can they do it without killing each other? Inshallah.
Denmo Ibrahim is the 2026 Playwright in Residence at Golden Thread, having been involved with the company as an artist since 2003. Golden Thread commissioned and produced Denmo’s first play ECSTASY | a waterfable and recently helped develop her new work A Country Made of Salt as part of its Festival of Palestinian Art. She has also appeared on Golden Thread’s stages numerous times – most recently in Yussef El Guindi’s Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat.
June 19, 2026 - July 12, 2026
Potrero Stage
1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA
Tickets start at $20. No one is turned away for lack of funds.
Written by Denmo Ibrahim
Directed by Nailah Unole didanas’ea Harper-Malveaux
“This is a play that speaks deeply to Arab-American and other diasporic and immigrant communities in intimate and global ways. It is a play that can hold our joy and grief simultaneously,” says Nabra Nelson, Golden Thread Productions Artistic Director. “People often ask Golden Thread about how our plays connect to the current political moment. Right now, this play is resonating with me as a story about how family and laughter are balm in the darkest moments, even when we are grieving the loss of a loved one.”
Creative Team
Denmo Ibrahim
Playwright
Denmo Ibrahim
Denmo Ibrahim (she/her) is an American playwright, actor, and theatre maker of Egyptian descent. She is the recipient of the Legacy Playwright Award from Advance Gender Equity in the Arts and was shortlisted for the 2025 Princess Grace Award. Her plays include Arab Spring (Finalist: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Rainin Fellowship), BABA (Winner: Theatre Bay Area “Best Original Script”; SFBATCC “Best New Play” & “Best Solo Show”), The Weight of an Orange (The Playwrights’ Revolution, Capital Stage) and Naguib Mahfuz Was Stabbed in the Neck and Almost Died (Finalist: Sundance Theatre Lab). Her children’s book Zaynab’s Night of Destiny, an audio immersive experience for young audiences, toured throughout Kentucky public schools and was supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts.
Denmo’s creative work has been produced and developed by Audible, Round House Theatre, Williamston Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Noor Theatre, The Civilians R&D Series, Amphibian Stage, Alter Theatre, Shotgun Players, Golden Thread, and Crowded Fire.
As an educator, she has led workshops in storytelling and ensemble devised theatre at Harvard University, University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and LOYAC in Kuwait. She currently serves as Chair of the MENA Theatre Makers Alliance (MENATMA), a national coalition advancing visibility and equity for SWANA artists. Denmo holds an MFA from Naropa University and a BFA from Boston University. denmoibrahim.com
Nailah Unole didanas'ea Harper-Malveaux
Director
Nailah Unole didanas'ea Harper-Malveaux
Nailah Unole didanas’ea Harper-Malveaux (she/her) is a queer multiracial theater director and producer. Directing highlights include: the rolling world premiere of Haunted by Tara Moses (Cleveland Public Theatre), the West Coast premiere of The Last of the Love Letters by Ngozi Anyanwu and Edit Annie by Mary Glen Fredrick (Crowded Fire), the world premiere of Getting There by Dipika Guha (NCTC), and The Light by Loy A. Webb (Shotgun Players). She serves as the Leader of Artistic Curation at Crowded Fire Theater. She has worked as a freelance artist at Cleveland Public Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown Theater Festival, Berkeley Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Z Space, and American Conservatory Theater. She received her B.A. in American Studies and Theatre Studies from Yale University.