Spooky Action Theater opens its 2026/27 REMIX season with the American premiere of Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights by Irish Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil, with contributions from Hanan Al-Shaykh, Suhayla El- Bushra and Sara Shaarawi, and translations by Hassan Abdulrazzak. Directed by Mekala Sridhar and featuring Gigi Cammaroto, Surasree Das, Gowri Koneswaran, Raghad Makhlouf, and Laura Zee, Hakawatis, a feminist reimagining of the classic tale of the Arabian Nights, is presented in association with Solas Nua and runs September 24 – October 18, 2026 at Spooky Action’s home at Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, Washington, DC.
ABOUT THE PLAY
‘Hakawati /hakəˈwɑːti/. Noun: Storyteller. From the Arabic terms “hekaye” meaning “story,” and “haki” meaning “to talk.”
A tyrant avenges his wife’s infidelity by wedding, bedding and beheading a new bride every day. Years later, only five brides-in-waiting remain. These women are unapologetic, and united in their fight to keep themselves – and the whole of womankind – alive. They’ve got other ideas for their future, and it starts with a story. In this London Globe hit by Irish-Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil, you’ll be captivated by tales that are funny, raunchy, and dangerous – and a matter of life and death.
Content transparency: contains strong and sexual language, and themes of oppression and slavery.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Hannah Khalil, with contributions from Hanan Al-Shaykh, Suhayla El- Bushra and Sara Shaarawi. Translations by Hassan Abdulrazzak.
Hannah Khalil (Playwright) is Writer in Residence at Bristol Old Vic (2025-2030). Her recent work includes critically acclaimed My English Persian Kitchen which had a sellout run at the Traverse as part of the Edinburgh Festival in August 2024, then transferred to Soho Theatre, London. It returned to London in Autumn 2025 followed by a UK and Irish tour. It opens at The Atlas in DC this fall produced by Mosaic Theater Company and Solas Nua. Also Love Omar at Teatro Technis. Hannah was the 2022 Resident Writer at Shakespeare’s Globe, while there the Globe produced three of her plays: Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, Henry VIII, and The Fir Tree (2021 and 2022). Her other stage plays include A Museum in Baghdad (Royal Shakespeare Company) which marked the first play by a woman of Arab heritage on a main stage at the RSC, Interference (National Theatre of Scotland), and the critically acclaimed Scenes from 68* Years – shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award (Arcola Theatre, London, 2016). Her first libretto for a new Key Stage 2 Opera called The Great Stink toured the UK in 2024 with English Touring Opera. Hannah held the Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at Villanova University in 2021 and was a Creative Fellow of the Samuel Beckett Archive for 2021/2022. She co-conceived and acted as co-artistic director for the Not Beckett International Festival of New Plays. She is currently an Honorary Fellow of Birkbeck University. In 2022, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Hannah is an Associate Artist of Shakespeare’s Globe.
ABOUT THE TEAM
CAST: features associate artists returning to Spooky Action, Surasree Das (The Dragon, Frontieres sans Frontieres) and Helen Hayes Award nominee Raghad Makhlouf (The Dragon, Agreste (Drylands), Sonnets for an Old Century) with Gigi Cammaroto, Gowri Koneswaran, and Laura Zee making their debuts with the company.
PRODUCTION: Mekala Sridhar (Director), Giorgos Tsappas (Scenic Design), William K. D’Eugenio (Lighting Design), Navi (Sound Design/Composer), Cidney Forkpah (Costume Design), Johnna Presby (Puppetry Design and Properties), Robert Bowen Smith and Rex Daugherty (Movement Co-Directors), Layali Aljirafi (Choreography Consultant), Grace Rodriguez (Stage Manager), and Franklin Ruiz (Technical Director).
DATES & TICKETS
Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, presented by Spooky Action Theater in association with Solas Nua, runs September 24 to October 18, 2026 at Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, Washington, DC. with performances Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2 pm, plus an Industry Night performance Monday, September 28 at 7:30pm, and added Wednesday performance, October 14 at 7:30pm. Purchase tickets online.
The UNMC is an older venue and is currently not accessible to wheelchairs.
- All tickets are General Admission and range from Pay-What-You-Can to $50.
- Tickets for the opening week performances Thurs, Sept. 24 at 7:30pm, Fri, Sept. 25 at 7:30pm and Sun, Sept. 27 at 2pm are all Pay-What-You-Can, available online in advance, and in person the day of the show, depending on availability.
- Tickets for performances October 1 to 18 (inclusive of fees) are $50 and a limited amount of $17 Economy price tickets for each performance.
- Student/Senior discounts (inclusive of fees): Student Admission is $25 with a valid Student ID to be shown at will call. Senior Citizens, 65 years of age and over, will receive $10 OFF full-price tickets, $40.
- Post-Show discussions will be scheduled, TBD.
ABOUT THE THEATERS
Spooky Action Theater is an award-winning professional theater located near DC’s Dupont and Logan Circle neighborhoods. Founded in 2004, SAT takes its name from a phenomenon of quantum mechanics in which particles become entangled – so that a change in one is forever mirrored by change in the other. SAT recharges people’s intuitive and emotional core by linking artists and audiences in a shared act of imagination that leaves all parties transformed. SAT stages and develops groundbreaking plays by diverse writers across the globe, trains the next generation of artists, empowers students to express themselves, and partners with mission-aligned organizations to spotlight vital themes.
Hakawatis is produced in association with Solas Nua.
Solas Nua – ‘new light’ in Irish, is dedicated exclusively to contemporary Irish arts. Founded in 2005, Solas Nua acts as an ambassador and advocate for Irish arts in the US, promoting contemporary Irish culture, multi-disciplinary arts, and creativity. Solas Nua commissions, produces, and presents thought-provoking and groundbreaking work across genres, work that is cross-cultural, representing today’s Ireland — a contemporary, globally diverse society — and reflecting how Irish culture is shared across borders, ethnicity, and economic lines.
