DRONE is a new play by Andrea Assaf and a transdisciplinary performance project integrating theater, live music, emerging technologies, and artistic containers for public dialogue. It explores the drone as a metaphor for how we become desensitized to daily violence (domestic and global), the question of moral injury, and the effects of remote-control warfare on the human soul.

This performance of new work-in-progress will include excerpts of the play, which are based on the true testimonies of survivors and witnesses of US drone strikes, together with an original sound score exploring practices of “droning” in music traditions from Southwest and Central Asia and the US South. Featured performers include Andrea Assaf, Ashley Wilkerson, and Anu Yadav as The Survivors, with music performed by internationally acclaimed Syrian opera singer Lubana Al Quntar, Iranian vocalist and percussionist Aida Shahghasemi, and Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil.

Content Warning: This performance contains text based on the actual testimonies of military drone strike survivors and witnesses. The content includes descriptions of war, death, and violence, which may be difficult for some audiences. We encourage self-care, both in your choice to attend and during the performance.

Andrea Assaf is a performer, writer, director, and cultural organizer. She is the founder and artistic director of Art2Action Inc., a not-for-profit collective of women artists, artists of color, queer or trans-identified artists, and creative allies, who create, develop, and produce new and devised theater work, interdisciplinary performances, performative acts, and progressive cultural organizing.

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