Celebrate Women’s History Month with a discussion featuring two extraordinary playwrights, Jewelle Gomez and Torange Yeghiazarian. Moderated by local writer, artist and curator Natalia Vigil, this discussion promises an exhilarating exploration of their latest works, both premiering at New Conservatory Theatre Center.  Jewelle Gomez’s Unpacking in P’town, runs March 1-31, and Torange Yeghiazarian’s The Tutor, runs Apr 5-May 11. 

Jewelle Gomez (Cabo Verdean/Ioway/Wampanoag, pronouns: she/her) is a novelist, poet, and playwright. She is the author of seven books including the double Lambda Literary Award-winning, Black lesbian vampire novel, The Gilda Stories. Waiting for Giovanni, her play about James Baldwin, and Leaving the Blues, about Alberta Hunter, were commissioned and premiered at NCTC. She has written for numerous publications including The Village Voice, MS Magazine, The Advocate, San Francisco Chronicle and Black Scholar.

Natalia Vigil is a queer Xicana writer, multimedia curator, and big sister of six, born and raised in San Francisco. She is the co-founder of Still Here San Francisco for which she was honored as a Local Hero by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. She is an arts administrator passionate about community-driven creativity and cultural preservation.

Torange Yeghiazarian (pronouns: she/her) founded Golden Thread Productions in 1996 and served as its Executive Artistic Director for twenty-five years. She received a Gerbode-Hewlett Playwright Commission Award for Isfahan Blues and a commission from the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California to write and direct The Fifth String – Ziryab’s Passage To Cordoba. Other plays include 444 Days, Waves, Behind Glass Windows, Dawn At Midnight, Abaga, Thanksgiving At Khodabakhshian’s, Publicly Resting and Call Me Mehdi, included in the anthology Salaam. Peace – An Anthology of Middle Eastern-American Drama (TCG, 2009). 

Connect 

NCTC – Instagram 

Torange Yeghiazarian – Website