Would your organization or company benefit from a performance of Khuraki, to promote cultural awareness? Contact us!

KHŪRĀKĪ

A 2019 nominee for Pittsburgh’s Mayor’s Award for Public Art, “Khūrākī” is a live cultural/ culinary performances designed to challenge Americans’ perceptions about Afghanistan, while supporting a group of Afghan female refugees in their goal to start a collectively-owned food business in Pittsburgh (more on their business here).

Created and written by RealTime’s Molly Rice in collaboration with the Afghan group, the show was directed by RealTime’s Rusty Thelin in four partner sites across Pittsburgh in Spring 2019. It was revived in March 2020 to celebrate the opening of the women’s business, Zafaron Afghan Cuisine (cancelled mid-run due to COVID). Versions have been produced at the University of Pittsburgh and PNC Bank, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Borderlight International Theater Festival in Cleveland.  The show is currently available to organizations, schools, and businesses interested in enhancing cultural understanding and welcoming our new Afghan neighbors.

Commissioned by the Office of Public Art and funded by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant, Khūrākī (“eat” or “meal” in the Afghan language Dari) celebrates the beauty of Afghanistan through theatrical portraits of five strong women who will forever be Afghan but have recently become Americans as well. What do they miss about their homeland? What have they been able to preserve in the flight from home–in their traditions, in their cooking, in their hearts? And what do they want you to know about the beautiful land where they were born?

Performances feature Afghan food prepared by the women, live Afghan and Western classical music, and moments of immersive cultural experience.

Original cast: Tressa Glover, Alex Manalo, Krystal Rivera, Kelly Trumbull, and Ashley Loren Williams. Musicians: Emily Gallagher, Theresa Abalos, Evan Tegley, and Jennifer Sternick.

Photo credits, project page photo and this page: Heather Mull, Josephine Oria, Allie Reefer Amoaye

For more, please visit our news  page.

NEWS: A WQED documentary by Annette Banks on the making of Khuraki, was nominated for a 2020 Emmy award, and won a Golden Quill Award! View the 8-minute documentary here: Drop by Drop