

COMMUNITY

Theatre & Bengali Harlem
“Take Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun.' Well, it's a working-class family, and it's about upward mobility, but systematic racism is preventing them from having upward mobility. I remember seeing the film first and not even realizing that it was a play. Of course, it's a story about economic apartheid, but I only later saw the resonance in the tradition when I read August Wilson, Amiri Baraka, and later, Lynn Nottage.”
Aladdin Ullah
How do you give dignity and humanity and a platform for people that are not being represented in the arts, in film, TV, and theatre?
How do you give dignity and humanity and a platform for people that are not being represented in the arts, in film, TV, and theatre?
SUB-HEAD
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Watch the interview on YouTube or IGTV.


Interview
Bangladeshi Diapora
Bangladesh
South Asian Theater
Working-Class Stories
Bertolt Brecht
August Wilson
Amiri Baraka
Lorraine Hansberry
Avijit Roy
Mel Watkins
Black Solidarities
ALADDIN ULLAH is a playwright, comedian, and performer based in New York City. He is a pioneer of the past decade as one of the very first South Asians to perform stand-up comedy on national television on networks such as: HBO, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, and PBS. He was the co-founder and host of the multi-ethnic stand-up show Colorblind, a member of Joseph Papp's Public Theater's Inaugural Emerging Writers group where he wrote and developed Indio during the Spotlight Series and workshops at Joe's Pub. He was also a part of the New York Theater Workshop Residency at Dartmouth, and Halal Brothers directed by Liesel Tommy (The Labyrinth's Barn Series at Public Theater). Aladdin has had staged readings/workshops of his plays at New York Theater Workshop, Cape Cod Theater Project, Classical Theater of Harlem, Lark Play Development Center, Shakespeare in Paradise Festival (Bahamas) Labyrinth, and 1 Solo Festival. His acting career includes American Desi, and the award-winning animated film Sita Sings The Blues. Aladdin is a Recipient of the Paul Robeson development grant to produce a documentary called In search of Bengali Harlem, which inspired the recent book Bengali Harlem by Vivek Bald. His most recent play is Dishwasher Dreams, a one-man show drawn from the story of his father’s migration from Noakhali, East Bengal, to New York City.
11 Sept 2020
Interview
Bangladeshi Diapora
11th
Sep
2020

Chaitali Sen
17th
Dec

Kabita Chakma
9th
Dec

Vijay Iyer
8th
Nov

Gaiutra Bahadur
11th
Oct
