QUAND TU SORS DU FEU

by Ella Boueau

Directed by Leyla Levi

Music Directed By Laura Elkeslassy

featuring Laura Elkeslassy, Leila Ben-Abdallah, And Ramsey Faragallah

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ABOUT THE SHOW

"Quand tu sors du feu" is a "three-hander" that is equal parts 1930s cabaret, andalusi music, and téléphone arabe. Ella and her ghosts-- the Tunisian Jewish vocalist Habiba Msika, and her grandfather André-- move through time in many combinations, exploring the violence and pleasure of their close relationships, each shedding light on the dark corners of the other, whether they want that light shed or not. For some, intimacy is less a pure pleasure and more a midnight haunting.

The inspiration behind the inception of the piece, in the playwright’s words: This play is deeply personal. It's the first time I'm writing directly from my own history and life. I discovered Habiba Msika while researching the role of music and cabaret in Algerian independence. When I stumbled onto this Tunisian singer/actress who was anti-imperialist, pro-pleasure and seemed possibly queer, and when I realized she was someone my grandfather would have listened to on the radio in Algeria, I started hearing these whispers that pushed me to write. I felt like these two figures might have things to say to each other, and to me. I kept researching and found many parallels that helped me contextualize my grandfather, a painter and sculptor who died when I was young, and who hardly ever spoke about his past, but who left behind a challenging relationship legacy that affects our family to this day.

Meet the Creative Team

ELLA BOUREAU

PLAYWRIGHT

ELLA BOUREAU was born in New York City, raised in the same Pennsylvania stone barn as her mother, and has roots in coastal villages in France and Algeria. Upon reaching the age of consent she immediately returned to New York City, allegedly to study poetry at The New School, but secretly to people-watch and be gay. Ella writes about sex, mediterranean myths, and female dirtbaggery. She is interested in rage and grief: when they are funny, when they are scary, when they are heartbreaking, and when they just get so twisted up that they break into something else entirely. Her plays include: FUCKING AJAX!: An Appalachian Gay Soul Suicide Musical (Zarkower Award for First Year Playwriting, Dramatist Guild Fellow Semi-finalist); CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS, CLAMS (O'Neill Playwriting Conference semi-finalist); and Helps to Hate You a Little: a Lovestory (Cloud City, Dixon Place, Fresh Fruit Festival @The Wild Project). She has an MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College.

LELYLA LEVI

DIRECTOR

LEYLA LEVI (she/her) is a New York based theater artist from Istanbul, Turkey. She directed Romeo and Juliet (Yale), Marys Seacole (Yale), Furlough’s Paradise (Yale). Previously, she served as the artistic director of Gakko, an international arts education collective devising interdisciplinary summer camps for high school students. She directed programs in Japan, France, Indonesia, Romania and the US.

Laura Elkeslassy

MUSIC DIRECTOR/PERFORMER (HABIBA MESIKA)

LAURA ELKESLASSY (she/her) is a singer, theater maker and educator based in Brooklyn. In 2021, she released the multimedia project Ya Ghorbati: Divas in Exile, exploring the music and stories of Judeo-Arab divas from mid-century North Africa, including the story of Habiba Messika. Theater credits: the National Opera of Paris, the Venice Film Festival, La MaMa ETC, Classic Stage Company, The Rattlestick Theater, Mabou Mines, The New Ohio, Target Margin Theater, HB Playwrights, Here Arts Center, and Irondale Theater. Music credits include Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the World Music Institute. Learn more at www.lauraelkeslassy.com

Leila Ben-Abdallah

PERFORMER (ELLA)

LEILA BEN-ABDALLAH (she/her) is a Tunisian-American actor, voiceover artist, and science student. Leila had an acting career from 2007-2020 before trading it in to pursue a degree in Creative Science Writing at SUNY Empire State University where she has so far earned straight As, except for one B+ in Trig that will haunt her until her dying day. Leila’s voiceover work can be heard in commercials, e-learning modules, PSAs, and workplace training programs. She is delighted to be coming out of theater acting retirement for this reading! www.leilaben-abdallah.com

By: **Rebecca Ashly Photography**
Ramsey is a strong character, that looks to be in late middle age. He looks directly at the viewer with openness and warmth. Bald head, astute hazel eyes, his left eye is clear and intense, his right eye a bit dimmer with an saggy lid. His short cropped beard is neat and trim and is of overwhelmingly white whiskers. His beautiful light brown skin is lit from below and the left, against a light grey background. He is wearing a dark grey sweater that is slightly out of focus. He seems trustworthy and kind but no one you’d want against you.

Ramsey Faragallah

PERFORMER (ANDRE)

RAMSEY FARAGHALLAH is an actor, a writer & teacher. He has worked at The Kennedy Center, The Public, Lincoln Center, Playwrights, MTC, Yale, ART, The Guthrie, Oregon Shakespeare, Sundance, The McCarter, South Coast Repertory, The Culture Project, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Red Bull, NYS&F, The New Vic and throughout Europe. Numerous recurring and guest star roles on television and films of Sidney Pollack, Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen among others. Voice Artist work: Radio Lab, This American Life, Playing on Air, NOVA, countless commercials and prize winning audio books. He studied with Ms. Stella Adler and is a proud member of The Actors Center.

Aisling Galvin

STAGE MANAGER

AISLING GALVIN is thrilled to be working with Noor Theatre company. Previous credits include Artificial Flavors (The Civilians), Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Yale Rep); Passing Strange (Long Wharf); Criminal Queerness Festival (National Queer Theatre); Paradise Ballroom (New York Stage and Film); Meet Me in the Gardens (Shiva Productions).