'A Dress for Mona' is produced in collaboration with
One Human Family and Kingfisher Theatre
CAST
Mona Anna Santos
Yadu’llah (Father) J. Chachula
Farkhundih (Mother) Laura Graham
Aram / Young Man /
Religious Magistrate Vesall Nourani
Mr. Alizadeh Timothy Cole
Farah Helena Clauss
Aqa Husayni Tomiké Ogugua
Mrs. Khudayar / Head Prisoner Roberta Moore
Zahra Kendall Rileigh
Secretary Maya Rosman
Guard 1 Rida Perez-Salazar
Guard 2 David Shanks
Student Parisa Nourani
Understudies: Maya Rosman, Rida Perez-Salazar, Parisa Nourani
Children: Aneesa Johnson, Ashley and Avery Sanders…
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Dilsey Davis, Mark Perry and Azadeh Rohanian Perry
Director: Mark Perry
Dramaturg: Azadeh Rohanian Perry
Co-Director: Bill George
Stage Manager: Shawn Paulling
Set Designer Jesse Belsky
Light Designer: Lou Pounder
Costume Coordinators: Fahimeh Nourani, Katayoun Sadri
Sound Designer: Eric Johnson
Make-up: Aisha Sanders
Puppet Designer: Winnie Merritt
Technical Directors: Robert Stromberg, Carl Pearson
Lighting Assistant: Madeline Best
Assistant Stage Manager: Sheena Johnson
House Manager: Emily Kavari
Publicity: Noah Bartolucci, Heidi Jacot
Promotion Assistants: Ann Bauer, Kendall Rileigh, Sally Jamir
Graphic Design: Cara Williams & Montoya Marketing, Dawn Oh,
Advanced Ticket Purchasing: Etix.com
Administrative Assistant: Jason Kugler
Fundraising Correspondent: Daria Monadjemi
Donor Gift Design Eileen Kugler
Hospitality Coordinator: Susan Grove
Hospitality Providers: Eileen and Gary Kugler, Isik and Glen Cotten, Catherine &
Morris Davis-Dodd
Consultants / Auditors: Robert Tansik, Catherine Davis-Dodd
VIDEO TEAM
Producer: Barry Lane, 5th Epoch Press
Video Director Gil Muro, Ruhi Vargha
Production Coordinator Sarah Bursky
Camera Operators Luis Dechtiar, Foster Haskell, Ken Cabot
Documentary Director Luis Dechtiar
ROLES: (Click on the character's name to read monologue)
MONA: 16, Female. She’s not your stereotypical Middle-Eastern girl. Mona is friendly and bright, and while she is spiritually inclined, she is not yet a saint. In a dream, Mona receives a call, which thrills her but which she can’t completely understand. Its meaning is only gradually revealed over the course of time. Caught up in an unimaginable situation, this young woman goes through an incredible testing of character and emerges transcendent.
YADU’LLAH (Mona’s Father): 50ish, Male. He’s not your stereotypical Middle-Eastern Dad. He is ebullient, caring, funny and devout and possesses a youthful exuberance that slightly veils a vast spiritual discipline. He struggles not against his own inevitable death, but against the specter that the world could wish to destroy his daughter.
FARKHUNDIH (Mona’s Mother): 50ish, Female. Anxious and strong-willed, grounded in the “real” world, Mona’s mother feels trapped by and bucks against a government that unfairly wants to strip her of the two things she cares about most: her daughter and her husband.
ARAM: 16, Male. A self-assured little son-of-a-Mulla who is a bit kooky but who falls head over heels for Mona. The demands placed on him by his fundamentalist father and society urge him on to betray this love and leave him seriously conflicted. (Actor must be versatile and play two other important characters: The ethereal YOUNG MAN in Mona’s dream and the older, fanatical RELIGIOUS MAGISTRATE.)
FARAH: 16, Female. Sassy and worldly, Mona’s friend, Farah, is everything Mona isn’t, and yet they are good friends. While she cares deeply for Mona, she doesn’t care much for these strange beliefs of hers and certainly can’t comprehend how she can devote herself so completely to them, and to what end?
MR. ALIZADEH: 40’s, Male. As a teacher, he holds considerable sway over Mona and the other students. His charisma and sharp-wit endear him to them, and he is the subject of many a crush. Mona is not immune to his charms. When he learns she is imprisoned and effectively on death row, he will stop at nothing to save her – even if from her own choice! A deep secret of his past is then revealed and Mona is shaken.
MRS. KHUDAYAR: 30-60, Female. Mrs. K. has been Mona’s neighbor for several years. The family has always been friendly to her, but she can’t help but hear things through the walls that just don’t seem right–if only Mona could get married and get out of that home! Her own trustworthiness will soon be tested.
AQA HUSAYNI: 35-60; Male. If the Islamic Revolution was a gift, then this Mulla (Islamic cleric) was the proud recipient. He is dead sure that Ayatollah Khomeini was divinely sent, the best thing that could happen to Iran. And any and all who block the path of his ideology’s progress will be hacked in two by the Sword of God.
ZAHRA: 20, Female. A drug addict in prison, she clings to Mona and some of the other prisoners for comfort. She sees something in them that she wants, a freedom of spirit, but she can’t hide from herself that their path leads only to the hangman’s noose.
GUARD: 16-30, Male. A man not yet grown into his gun, he is swept up in a whirlwind he did not create, but which at the same time he cannot resist. It is Iran, 1982. Death is the only resistance.