Memorial by Adam Ashraf Elsayigh

Memorial is a verbatim play that tells the story of the Christchurch Muslim community during and following the two mosque shootings that occurred on March 15th in Christchurch, New Zealand using embodied rituals and practices. Memorial chronicles the impact of the shootings, and systems of violence, through the words and experiences of seven citizens of Christchurch, focusing on the friends and families of...
Memorial is a verbatim play that tells the story of the Christchurch Muslim community during and following the two mosque shootings that occurred on March 15th in Christchurch, New Zealand using embodied rituals and practices. Memorial chronicles the impact of the shootings, and systems of violence, through the words and experiences of seven citizens of Christchurch, focusing on the friends and families of those who were lost in the attacks. It also deeply engages with themes of migration, diaspora and the experience of otherness and xenophobia both within and outside communities.

This is a co-written piece with my friend and collaborator, Arianna Stucki
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Memorial

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  • Playwrights Foundation:
    4 Feb. 2022
    “ The community of national & local readers for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival in 2021 enthusiastically recommends MEMORIAL as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation out of 755 plays. We were deeply moved by the way the interviews from the mosque shooting were woven together like a tapestry. We were compelled by the beautiful, loving way these lives are dramatized, the fluidity of the writing, and the life-affirming hope present in the midst of tragedy. We hope the play is widely read, finds dedicated collaborators and moves swiftly towards production. #BAPF2021 ”

1. South Asian man, late 50s
2. Arab woman, late 50s, must be Arabic-speaking
3. White man, early 40s
4. Arab man, 50s, must be Arabic-speaking
5. Arab woman, mid 20s to early 30, must be Arabic-speaking
6. South East Asian woman, late teens to early 20s (non speaking role)
7. South Asian or Arab man, late 20s to 30s (non-speaking role)