Produced by RealTime Interventions, “Khūrākī” was created by Molly Rice in collaboration with a group of recently-resettled Afghan refugees in Pittsburgh. Commissioned by the Office of Public Art as part of their Artists in Residence program* and supported by Pittsburgh’s refugee resettlement community and many other partners, Khūrākī (meaning “eat” or “meal” in the Afghan language Dari) will take place in four locations across Pittsburgh from late March to early May. The series will celebrate the beauty of Afghan culture, music, and food through “theatrical portraits” of five strong women who will forever be Afghan but have recently become Pittsburghers as well. Divided into 2 parts, Part 1 events (Millvale and East Liberty/Highland Park) will focus on the Afghan New Year celebrations. Part 2 events (Oakland and North Side) will feature celebrations of life changes and Ramadan.

For the events, professional actors chosen by the women themselves will represent each woman, telling their stories while the women gain experience cooking Afghan dishes together for the audience, in service to their central goal: to open the first Afghan food business in Pittsburgh. The cast includes Tressa Glover, Alex Manalo, Krystal Rivera, Kelly Trumbull, and Ashley Loren Williams. Each performance will feature Afghan food prepared by the women, Afghan-inspired music (arranged and performed by graduate music students from Carnegie Mellon University) and moments of immersive cultural experience.

Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will go to the women of the Pittsburgh Afghan community to support their efforts to develop a food-based business.

In order to share Afghan culture with people from all over the city, a limited number of tickets will be reserved for residents of each neighborhood in which Khūrākī takes place. To reserve these seats, contact RealTime directly at realtimeinterventions@gmail.com with “Neighborhood Tickets” as the subject line.

At RealTime we want our events to be welcoming and accessible to all people. The program 1 events of Khūrākī are wheelchair accessible. Please contact us at realtimeinterventions@gmail.com if you require assistance.