February 9–12, 2017

Leeds Theatre

Written by Maurice Decaul ’18 MFA

Directed by Ken-Matt Martin ’19 MFA

Presented as part of Writing is Live 2017

Nadia, a self-styled internet celebrity shows up at the American Embassy in Quetta, seeking asylum after she is told about a plot to kill her to restore her family’s honour, after semi-nude pictures of her appear on the internet. She is met by Karen, an American consul officer, sympathetic to her cause, but sensitive to the potentially explosive climate of the Quetta street. Nadia’s fate hangs in the balance as does the already fractured American/Pakistani relationship…all decisions made or not made lead to potential catastrophe.

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).