Saheem Ali is Associate Artistic Director at The Public Theater in New York City.
18 Facts About Saheem Ali
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Saheem Ali earned his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and he holds an MFA in Directing from Columbia University.
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Saheem Ali assisted on productions in Minneapolis at Theatre de la Jeune Lune and Wintertime at the Guthrie Theater in 2003.
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Saheem Ali was assistant director on several productions in Boston, including Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Shakespeare's Henry Vin 2002 and Macbeth in 2003.
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Saheem Ali assisted on the operas Powder Her Face in 2003 and Angels in America in 2006 for Opera Boston.
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In 2014, Saheem Ali conducted a workshop on Dominique Morisseau's Facing Our Truths.
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In 2015, Saheem Ali was Associate Director under Michael Greif for The Tempest.
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Saheem Ali was slated to direct Richard II for Shakespeare in the Park in the summer of 2020, but with the Covid-19 pandemic, he re-envisioned the production as a serialized radio play, co-produced by The Public Theater and WNYC-FM radio.
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Saheem Ali followed with two more radio plays, including Anne Washburn's Shipwreck and the 2021 bilingual Romeo y Julieta starring Lupita Nyong'o.
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Saheem Ali had previously worked with Ijames when he workshopped Kill Move Paradise at National Black Theatre in 2016 and directed it in 2017.
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Saheem Ali has directed a variety of plays, from Marisol by Jose Rivera at Barnard College in 2011 to A Lesson from Aloes by Athol Fugard at Juilliard School in 2016.
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Saheem Ali directed Nollywood Dreams by Jocelyn Bioh at Cherry Lane Theater in 2017 and at MCC Theater in 2021.
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Saheem Ali is known for actively participating in the development process of new plays.
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Saheem Ali has had workshops or readings of several plays that he later directed.
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Saheem Ali workshopped Donja R Love's Fireflies at Rising Circle Collective and New Dramatists in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and directed it at Atlantic Theater Company in 2018.
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Saheem Ali workshopped Donja R Love's Sugar in Our Wounds at Playwrights Realm in 2017 and directed a production of it at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2018.
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Saheem Ali directed The Booty Call, a play he co-wrote with Michael Thurber at Inner Voices in 2016 and workshopped it the following year at Roundabout Underground.
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Saheem Ali worked with Michael Thurber and Mkhululi Mabija on Goddess for the O'Neill Musical Theater Conference in 2013, and the play developed to be co-written by Thurber and Jocelyn Bioh at Theater Latte Da in 2017, with Saheem Ali directing it at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2022.