Aidaa Peerzada

Aidaa Peerzada (She/her) is a Black and Pakistani American theatremaker based in the Bay Area. Her plays have been developed with the Playwrights Foundation, Crowded Fire Theater, Prop Thtr, Catalyst: C3T, Meet Cute LA, Northern Sky Theatre, and SFBATCO, where she is also part of the artistic staff. Aidaa studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts and went on to receive her BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University. As an actor, Aidaa has performed with the Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre, Word 4 Word, SFBATCO, Oakland Theatre Project, Pittsburgh Public, Illinois Shakespeare, Utah Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, and American Players Theatre. She is part of Crowded Fire Theatre's 2024-26 Resilience & Development Lab.

Aidaa Peerzada (She/her) is a Black and Pakistani American theatremaker based in the Bay Area. Her plays have been developed with the Playwrights Foundation, Crowded Fire Theater, Prop Thtr, Catalyst: C3T, Meet Cute LA, Northern Sky Theatre, and SFBATCO, where she is also part of the artistic staff. Aidaa studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts and went on to receive her BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University. As an actor, Aidaa has performed with the Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre, Word 4 Word, SFBATCO, Oakland Theatre Project, Pittsburgh Public, Illinois Shakespeare, Utah Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, and American Players Theatre. She is part of Crowded Fire Theatre's 2024-26 Resilience & Development Lab.

Scripts

Lenora II

by Aidaa Peerzada

Cast Size
5
Genre
adventure,
fantasy,
musical,
science fiction,
verse

A 23rd Century Geneticist must escape the AI-walled city where she lives when she discovers that her daughter is an experiment in harvesting a new human "labor class." Inspired by Octavia Butler's "Kindred" and Lois Lowrey's "The Giver" and a sound reminiscent of Lauren Hill's MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 album and Sweet Honey In The Rock, the play explores a journey of a mother and daughter reclaiming their lost...

A 23rd Century Geneticist must escape the AI-walled city where she lives when she discovers that her daughter is an experiment in harvesting a new human "labor class." Inspired by Octavia Butler's "Kindred" and Lois Lowrey's "The Giver" and a sound reminiscent of Lauren Hill's MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 album and Sweet Honey In The Rock, the play explores a journey of a mother and daughter reclaiming their lost inner resources of self-expression through song and poetry to break out of their apocalyptic reality bent on repeating cycles of extreme environmental extraction and slavery.

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Children of The Wise

by Aidaa Peerzada

1
Cast Size
6
Genre
adventure,
biography,
drama,
fable/folktale,
fantasy,
movement/physical,
period,
political,
radio drama

When his anti-colonial activism lands him on a watch list, Rafi Peer is forced to flee British-ruled India in 1919. Almost a century later, his American granddaughter returns to Rafi’s native land, now Pakistan, in search of meaning on a study abroad trip. Nadia discovers the truth of her Grandfather’s mysterious artistic legacy, a family she’s never known, and comes closer to finding her own artistic purpose.

When his anti-colonial activism lands him on a watch list, Rafi Peer is forced to flee British-ruled India in 1919. Almost a century later, his American granddaughter returns to Rafi’s native land, now Pakistan, in search of meaning on a study abroad trip. Nadia discovers the truth of her Grandfather’s mysterious artistic legacy, a family she’s never known, and comes closer to finding her own artistic purpose.

SHINING

by Aidaa Peerzada

Cast Size
9—22
Genre
fable/folktale,
fantasy

SHINING is the story of a child of the Sun God, setting the world on fire as he works to prove himself to his estranged father. Written in contemporary verse by Aidaa Peerzada, this Afro-futurist innovation on the myth of Phaeton, explores the origin of state-sanctioned violence in western culture through “classical” archetypes and fantasy.

SHINING is the story of a child of the Sun God, setting the world on fire as he works to prove himself to his estranged father. Written in contemporary verse by Aidaa Peerzada, this Afro-futurist innovation on the myth of Phaeton, explores the origin of state-sanctioned violence in western culture through “classical” archetypes and fantasy.

Aliyah and The Princess Jasmine Barbie Doll

by Aidaa Peerzada

1
Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
fable/folktale,
fantasy,
parody/spoof

When Aliyah returns to her childhood bedroom in Pakistan, she is confronted by her old friend, Princess Jasmine Barbie. In their absence from one another, Aliyah has become informed about the ills of capitalism, and Jasmine has been inspired by the real demons and jinn of the One Thousand and One Nights. Will either of them make it out entact?

When Aliyah returns to her childhood bedroom in Pakistan, she is confronted by her old friend, Princess Jasmine Barbie. In their absence from one another, Aliyah has become informed about the ills of capitalism, and Jasmine has been inspired by the real demons and jinn of the One Thousand and One Nights. Will either of them make it out entact?

One Googol and One

by Aidaa Peerzada

Cast Size
13—36
Genre
adaptation,
adventure,
experimental,
fantasy,
verse

Named for the "One Thousand and One Nights" this play juxtaposes Scheherazade's relentless storytelling with a contemporary University classroom where students must fight for evidence of their own heritage. While Scheherazade buys life with narrative, the contemporary "Sher" works to reclaim the humanity of the peoples who once traded the old stories of the 'nights' by challenging her University's history...

Named for the "One Thousand and One Nights" this play juxtaposes Scheherazade's relentless storytelling with a contemporary University classroom where students must fight for evidence of their own heritage. While Scheherazade buys life with narrative, the contemporary "Sher" works to reclaim the humanity of the peoples who once traded the old stories of the 'nights' by challenging her University's history curriculum.

read more