PAPA Mini-Residency: Half Magic

CW: grief, loss of a parent, symbolic self-harm

Half Magic is the autobiographical story of a biracial white/South Asian child raised on stories of white heroes. Joseph Ahmed uses physical theater, storytelling, and circus techniques to explore the childhood narratives and social structures that led him to self-identify as white for most of his young life. Rocked by a loss in the family, he finds himself recontextualizing and rediscovering the stories that shaped him. What place is left in his Bengali heritage after a lifetime of white protagonists?

This project is a work-in-progress being developed through Philadelphia Asian Performing Artist’s Mini-Residency program, supported by Asian Arts Initiative and PAAFF. It is planned for eventual presentation as an in-person experience, but has been adapted to a live-stream format due to the realities of COVID-19.

Joseph Ahmed is a Philadelphia-based theater artist whose work expands into dance, circus, and interactive performance. He is a company member with the Barrymore Award-winning Tribe of Fools and has performed with Almanac Dance Circus Theatre. He is a co-founder of the Obvious Agency, an interactive performance company. He co-directed Chaos Theory by Jessica Creane, which won Immersion Nation’s Best Social Immersion of 2019 award. He holds a BFA in Theater Arts from Boston University. Connect with him here: www.josephahmed.com.

Directed by Mieke D.
Props Management by Sara Outing