Ensemble Studio Theatre & the Radio Drama Network present
by Sylvia Khoury, directed by William Carden*
featuring Rajesh Bose, Mohit Gautam, Caroline Hewitt, Mahira Kakkar*, Jack Mikesell, Sammy Pignalosa, Babak Tafti, John Wernke, & Avery Whitted
With the constant buzz of American drones above the Pakistani countryside, a young woman fears for the safety and sanity of her family. Thousands of miles away, the drone pilot in Nevada tasked with watching her family becomes increasingly removed from his own life. Playwright Sylvia Khoury examines the cost of wars fought at distance on both the observer and the observed.
Against the Hillside runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
Join our artists Monday, February 12th for an intimate reception and special Benefit Performance of Against the Hillside to support the development of new work at EST.
Scenic Designer: Jason Simms | Costume Designer: Sydney Maresca | Lighting Designer: Barbara Samuels | Sound Designer, Original Music: Shane Rettig | Props Master: Claire Rufiange | Stage Manager: Kate Croasdale | Press Photography: Gerry Goodstein
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sylvia Khoury (Playwright) Sylvia Khoury is a New York-born writer of French and Lebanese descent living in Manhattan. She is currently a member of the 2016-2018 Womens’ Project Lab, EST/Youngblood, and a 2015-2016 Dramatists’ Guild Fellow. Her play Against the Hillside was featured on the 2016 Kilroys List and was workshopped at the Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference, the Roundabout Theater’s Underground Reading Series, NNPN’s National Showcase of New Plays and NNPN’s MFA Playwrights’ Workshop at the Kennedy Center. Her play Selling Kabul was featured on the 2017 Kilroys List and was presented as part of Noor Theater’s Highlight Reading Series, La Jolla Playhouse’s DNA Reading Series and EST/Youngblood’s Bloodworks Series. Sylvia completed her MFA in Playwriting in May 2015 at the New School for Drama, where she received the Ted Snowdon Foundation Playwriting Award. She also has a BA from Columbia University in Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies. She is currently a student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.