kareem fahmy Theatre director

From Drums in the Night

by Bertholt Brecht

Raised by Egyptian immigrants in French-speaking Canada,

a mixed cultural identity has fueled my creativity.

As the son of a scientist, a career in the arts was not encouraged. Still, my father nurtured an interest in biology and anatomy which led to my becoming a physical therapist. As a lover of the written word, I expressed myself creatively as a writer of poetry, plays, and short fiction at a young age. This background has proven to be an unexpected gift to my work.

In directing, I discovered my passion at the intersection of these two key aspects of my experience: language and physicality. My work brings clarity to text and storytelling, while highlighting the grace and fluidity of the human body. I believe in theatrical experiences that are highly visual, emotional and physically dynamic.

I am honored to have been selected as a 2011-2012 Emerging Artist of Color Fellow by New York Theatre Workshop.

Check back here soon for more information about exciting new projects with up-and-coming playwrights J. Holtham, Victor Lesniewski, and Sevan Kaloustian Greene.

The acclaimed musical Once begins performances at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in February. I’m happy to have been associated with this show as the Assistant Director of the Off-Broadway production at New York Theatre Workshop.

The creators of the acclaimed Black Watch, director John Tiffany and choreographer Steven Hoggett, join forces with playwright/screenwriter Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The Walworth Farce) to bring the hit independent film ONCE, winner of a 2007 Academy Award for the hit song “Falling Slowly,” to the stage.

On the streets of Dublin, an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant are drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, an unexpected friendship and collaboration quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story, underscored by the emotionally charged music that has made ONCE an international sensation.

For more information or to buy tickets to ONCE click HERE.

I’m happy to be working for the second consecutive season with Red Bull Theater, Assistant Directing their In The Raw Workshop of Egyptian-Canadian playwright Olivier Kemeid’s The Aeneid. Directed by Kay Matschullat, featuring original music by Duncan Sheik

Inspired by Virgil, this powerful new play transports Aeneas’s search for a homeland into the modern world of middle-eastern revolution.

I couldn’t be more pleased to re-team with the wonderful Sevan Greene on his play Say Something, a satirical black comedy about racial profiling. No one is safe when Joe gets on his moral soapbox and elicits the help of his “urban” cousin Thumper to make a mock-terrorist video that falls into the hands of Ms. B, the suspicious Jamaican landlord. When Homeland Security gets involved not even volunteer lawyer Anna or booze-induced Lyda will be spared from questions.

December, 2011

Rising Circle Theatre Collective’s The Refinery presents

Say Something by Sevan Kaloustian Greene