February 6–7, 2016
Leeds Theatre
A part of Writing is Live 2016
Written by Maurice DeCaul ’18 MFA
Directed by Ashley Teague ’17 MFA
Jen is an American reporter new to Kabul. She has heard rumors of Kaftar, Afghanistan’s only female warlord, training an all-female force to fight the Taliban. She decides to track Kaftar down to her fiefdom, high in the Hindu Kush. But as Jen and her team get closer, Kaftar’s narrative, littered with untruths and misdirection, places Jennifer and her team in ambiguous, dangerous, and morally suspicious positions. The Magical Kingdom explores maternal grief through Kaftar’s grief at the murder of her son by soviets, and how her grief has manifested as a thirty-year jihad.
This performance took place on
- Saturday, February 6 at 2pm
- Sunday, February 7 at 11am
Maurice Emerson DeCaul ’18 MFA, a former Marine, is a poet, essayist, and playwright. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, The Daily Beast, Sierra Magazine, Epiphany, Callaloo, Narrative, The Common and others. His poems have been translated into French and Arabic and his theatre pieces have been produced at New York City’s Harlem Stage; Poetic License Festival in New York City; Washington DC’s Atlas INTERSECTIONS FESTIVAL in 2013 and 2014; l’Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe in Paris; The Paris Banlieues Bleues Festival; The Middelhein Jazz Festival, Antwerp; The Avignon Theatre Festival, France; Détours de Babel; and the Grenoble Festival, Grenoble, France. Forthcoming productions include: Arizona State University Gammage Memorial Auditorium; The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center; The Mary L Welch Theatre at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Maurice is a graduate of Columbia University (BA) and New York University (MFA).
