June Rugh is a writer in the tech industry who also does publicity and social media for progressive artists and small businesses. She grew up partly in Lebanon, where her mother was born and raised. Witnessing the lives of Palestinians in Lebanon's refugee camps at a young age is the basis of June's longtime activism for Palestine. In recent years, she has volunteered with the PCRF, helped organize Seattle's Team Palestine, and worked closely with Faisal Saleh to establish Palestine Museum US. June joined Dunya Productions because she believes that live performance and shared experience move people more deeply and inspire them to take action more than news reports or statistics ever could.

Rita was born in Jordan and grew up in Seattle. Through the years she has maintained close ties to the Arab world, as well as to the Arab-American communities throughout the U.S. She founded the Salaam Cultural Museum (SCM) to raise awareness of Arab American cultures and provide support to refugees and immigrants both locally and internationally. Rita is owner and founder of Caravan-Serai Tours, a Seattle travel agency specializing in the Middle East and North Africa. Through her travel agency network she has organized volunteer trips and donation drives for refugees in the Middle East and North Africa since the 1980s. She often labors into the wee hours of the night to solve a person’s problem, putting that person in touch with a lawyer, a city council member, a school principal, a church contact, perhaps even someone who lives on the other side of the country. No one is turned away.

Jen Marlowe is an author/filmmaker/playwright and human rights activist. Her most recent film (based on her documentary play) is There Is A Field focused on Black-Palestinian solidarity. Her most recent book is I Am Troy Davis, written with innocent death row prisoner Troy Davis (who was ultimately executed in 2011) and his sister. Her previous books include The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian’s Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker, and Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival. Her films include Remembering the Gaza War, Witness Bahrain, One Family in Gaza, Rebuilding Hope: Sudan’s Lost Boys Return Home and Darfur Diaries: Message from Home. For more information about Jen’s work, visit www.donkeysaddle.org.

George Kassis holds a couple of graduate degrees in Engineering and Business, and spent 28 years working for the Boeing company before deciding to retire in early 2021. Though George does not have any theater background, he is into all forms of art, primarily music. George plays the oud and enjoy the classical music of the Arab world. Born and raised in the Galilee area of Palestine, George came to US to study, then settled in Seattle in the late 1980s.

Manal AlSharif - (she/her) is a Palestinian immigrant. Loves seeing Arab theatre grow in the PNW. Happy to be part of Dunya Productions and learn more about what it takes to bring our theatre to this corner of the world. Looking forward to bringing Arab related films to a screen at Dunya Productions soon.

Tom and Hanna Eady  met in the late eighties at the University of Washington, earning their MFAs in Directing together. He joined this project because he believes in it artistically and politically.

Alyssa Norling is an actor and artist who has been performing and creating in Seattle (and Vashon Island across the water!) for over a decade.

Bradley has acted at Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, As If Theatre Company, The Shattered Glass Project, Annex Theatre, The Merc Playhouse, and the 14/48 Projects.

Tariq Mitri is a gay, Palestinian-American dancer, choreographer, and teacher in Seattle, WA. In 2015, he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts and cultivated a long-standing friendship and artistic relationship with collaborator, Jenna Eady.

Jenna Eady is a queer Palestinian choreographer and performing artist and is a Mental Health Therapist. She graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in dance and choreography where she began her long standing friendship and creative partnership with Tariq Mitri.

Mona Mohi Eddin Hassan Sherif Ali Ahmed Dawood Khalil Debbabea Kakea, also known as Mona Sherif-Nelson, is the founder of the Nubian Foundation and the daughter and the heir of Nubia’s cultural leader Mohi Eddin Sherif.

Nabra Nelson is a theater artist from Nubia, Egypt, and California, and a founding company member of Dunya Productions.

Lia Sima Fakhouri is a freelance stage director and storyteller. A Lebanese immigrant, born and raised in Dubai, UAE she identifies as third-culture kid. She is an advocate for the MENA Theatre community.

Lia Sima Fakhouri is a freelance stage director and storyteller. A Lebanese immigrant, born and raised in Dubai, UAE she identifies as third-culture kid. She is an advocate for the MENA Theatre community.

Ifrah Mansour is a Muslim Somali refugee who was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Somalia, Kenya, and the United States. She experienced civil wars, famine, displacement, droughts, and refugee camps before coming to America.

Edward Mast’s plays have been performed in several cities and countries, and he was returning home from his first of many trips to the Occupied Palestinian West Bank when he met Hanna Eady. 

Hanna Eady grew up as a Palestinian in what is now Israel. He came to Seattle for graduate school in directing, returning home to work with Palestinian theatre companies, including the one he founded in his native village Buqayah, where he wrote his first play Art and Politics. 

Raymond Hill is a sound designer and engineer from Illinois. He always had a love for sound achieving his B.A. in sound design and audio production.

Adem Hayyu is a Lighting Designer for Theater based in Seattle. He is also the Founder + CEO of SkyLit Designs, LLC., an event production company that provides access to resources and educational services on event production to underserved communities.