Aysha Zackria

Aysha Zackria

Aysha Zackria is a dramatist, writer, and musician studying at Carnegie Mellon University. She seeks to amplify important issues through dramaturgy, playwriting, and other acts of creation. By focusing on social convention through an activist’s lens, she searches for foundational truths about humanity. Her latest act of amplification was Natural Law, a one act play composed of found language from the Brett...
Aysha Zackria is a dramatist, writer, and musician studying at Carnegie Mellon University. She seeks to amplify important issues through dramaturgy, playwriting, and other acts of creation. By focusing on social convention through an activist’s lens, she searches for foundational truths about humanity. Her latest act of amplification was Natural Law, a one act play composed of found language from the Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas hearings, which was produced at Carnegie Mellon’s play festival. She won the national Scholastic Arts and Writing “One Earth Award” for her play Hell and High Water, which addressed the effects of climate change. She has served as Script Editor at Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts, which encourages high school students to make their voices heard by devising works of musical theatre. In 2019, she won the Miami Herald’s “Silver Knight Award in English and Literature” for her work as a tutor and advocate for improving access to literature in correctional facilities. Aysha is also an accomplished musician with a background in music theory. As an instrumentalist, she has played bass in twelve musicals.

Plays

  • Proximity by Aysha Zackria
    Cast: 
    2–3
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: theremin, feminism + 4 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period
    Keyword: theremin, feminism, music, invention, performance, historical biography
    Clara Rockmore, the first master of the newly-invented theremin, faces moments in her past before giving one of the most important concerts of her life.
  • Hell and High Water by Aysha Zackria
    Cast: 
    5–7
    ·
    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: climate change, violin + 2 more
    Genre: drama, political, radio drama
    Keyword: climate change, violin, luthier, global warming
    As greenhouse gases accumulate and global warming reaches new heights, string instruments are consistently flat and trumpets are unable to reach the low end of their range. Franklin, a violin maker and climate change denier, refuses to reengineer his instruments or his perspective. Faced with significant criticism from his customers and the subsequent jeopardy of his livelihood, will he still ignore reality?
  • Natural Law by Aysha Zackria
    Cast: 
    12
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: law, social justice + 2 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: law, social justice, Supreme Court, sexual assault
    A woman is the victim of sexual violence by a man who is more powerful than her. Years later, she must testify before the entire country to prevent that man from getting a seat on the Supreme Court for life. ​Natural Law​ tells that story, which belongs to both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Professor Anita Hill, although 27 years apart. Using found words from the hearings of Thomas and Kavanaugh, but framed as...
    A woman is the victim of sexual violence by a man who is more powerful than her. Years later, she must testify before the entire country to prevent that man from getting a seat on the Supreme Court for life. ​Natural Law​ tells that story, which belongs to both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Professor Anita Hill, although 27 years apart. Using found words from the hearings of Thomas and Kavanaugh, but framed as a Greek tragedy, ideas of fate and circularity emphasize the repetition of this inequity in women’s destinies.

Recommended by Aysha Zackria

  • The Light by Loy Webb
    2 Jun. 2022
    “ Webb writes a stunning relationship that is punctuated by immense joy as well as deep pain. The Light tackles the reality of sexual violence head on, particularly the unique trauma experienced by Black women. ”
  • Gorgeous by Keiko Green
    22 Apr. 2022
    “ A really insightful look into the experience of East Asian Americans in suburbia. Fast paced and witty. Really fun for dog lovers and man haters ”
  • a hit dog will holler by Inda Craig-Galván
    3 Mar. 2022
    “ The best modern work of magical realism I've seen in a long time. An incredible commentary on the depth of racial oppression, the layers of digital activism, the permeation of fear. Witty, fun, and deeply emotional. ”