Taraneh Hemami, Nabila Mango, Sharlyn Sawyer and Betty Shamieh

BERKELEY, CA – Now in its sixth year, What Do The Women Say? is an evening filled with song, dance, spoken word and more.  On Saturday, March 12 at 8 p.m. Golden Thread Productions will celebrate the work of 5 pioneering women who are building community through their art in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The performance will be at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, CA.

Golden Thread founding artistic director Torange Yeghiazarian will be in conversation with Taraneh Hemami (visual artist/curator), Nabila Mango (founding executive director of Zawaya), Betty Shamieh (award-winning playwright), and Sharlyn Sawyer (founding artistic director of Ballet Afsaneh).

The presentations will include a reading from Shamieh’s newest play The Strangest by Golden Thread favorite Nora el Samahy, and a 30-minute concert by Aswat Women’s Ensemble featuring songs from queens of Arabic music Asmahan, Fairouz, Shadia, and Dalida. Timeless classics selected span 1940s to 1980s, and include beloved gems like Sayed Darwish’s “Zuruni” and “El Helwa Di.”

For more information about the artists and the event, please visit Golden Thread’s website.