thank you all for a beautiful run of
the birth of paper
by RealTime Interventions
with Milia Ayache
Beirut partner: Rusted Radishes Beirut Literary & Art Journal
Pittsburgh partners: Handmade Arcade, City of Asylum and Scribe Fine Papers
jun 24-29, 2021
produced in pittsburgh, pennsylvania
performed live from beirut, lebanon
viewed across the world
“the smell of pine trees. a tiny light. a living letter in a bottle seeks you in a sea of chaos.”
gift package pickup in Beirut 
milia in rehearsal 
gift packages & letters 
candle by amy garbark 
receiving paper by scribe 
milia singing a lebanese folk song 
rusty delivering mail 
rehearsing without power 
molly and rusty delivering mail to pen pals 
custom stationery by melanie marshall
more about the project
Begun as an adaptation of a “distance play” Molly wrote in 2003, The Birth of Paper became a transcontinental “engine of connection” involving over 60 pen pals, makers, artists, and volunteers in Beirut and Pittsburgh.
The project began with a transcontinental letter exchange between strangers; continued with the creation, packing and mailing of “gift packages” made by Pittsburgh artisans for the people of Beirut (packed by Pittsburgh volunteers); and ended with a series of live shows centering on this mutual transmission of goods and goodwill among potential friends.
In the shows, Beirutis living the fallout of the August 2020 Port of Beirut explosion and the ongoing political and economic freefall opened their gift packages in real time, while actor/musician Milia Ayache performed the role of the “paper” upon which Molly wrote her love letter to Beirut.
The show was joyous, heartbreaking, intensely intimate, full of love– and a celebration of paper, ink, and the postal service as an ancient, global technology of connection.
our birth of paper team
Cast & Crew:
Milia Ayache, Performer
Molly Rice, Playwright/Producer
Rusty Thelin, Director/Producer
Emma Wagner DeFrange, Production Manager
Nate Kelly, Digital Stage Manager/Production Intern
Milia & Maya Ayache, Beirut Production Team
Allie Reefer, Marketing Consultant
Sequoia Marriott, Marketing/ Admin Assistant
Erikah Cudjoe, Social Media/Production Intern
Makers:
Katy DeMent, Seed-Paper & Tree-Pencil Artist
Amy Garbark, Candle Artist
Melanie Marshall, Envelope Artist
Sara Hargreaves, Fine Paper Pad Maker
Partners:
City of Asylum
Handmade Arcade
Scribe Fine Papers
Rusted Radishes
Letter Writers:
Pittsburgh / Beirut:
Hazel Leroy / Adib Rahhal
Ethan Heffley / Betty Gobna
Adil Monsoor / Natasha Gasparian
Tereneh Idia / Amina Hassan
Divya Rao Heffley / Perla Kantarjian
Leeann Younger / Romy-Lynn Attieh
Sequoia Marriott / Suha Zreik
Caitlyn Mayernick / Maya Ayache
Nate Kelly / Sarine Sahakian
Haida Bakhshi / Lina Mounzer
Emmanuelle Wambach / Sari Nuwayhid
Rusty Thelin / Serouj Hakissian
Elizabeth Ringler-Jayanti / Noha Khalife
Erikah Cudjoe / Grace Mouannes
City of Asylum Volunteers
Hannah Clark, Jane Graille, Emily Mattern, Gloria Mou, Leah Picker, Blain Schiff, Anne Schwan, Bill Steen, Susan Steen, Celeste Vitunic
Special Thanks:
Abby Lembersky, Tricia Brancolini-Foley, Rima Rantisi, Khalil Zeigler, John Hempel, Geoff Hurd, Alexis Jabour, Chelsea Sutton, Elsa Lepecki Bean, Squirrel Hill FedEx, and the RealTime Board (Becky Johnson, Brooke Mullin, Kheir Mugwaneza, Divya Rao Heffley & Melanie Marshall)
RealTime Interventions’ “The Birth of Paper” Now Open – Entertainment Central
The Birth of Paper: Interview with Playwright Molly Rice – HVY Journalists