Written by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Seth Rozin
Featuring Fajer Al-Kaisi, John Zak, Leah Walton, Peter Schmitz & Laura Catlaw
April 10 - May 10, 2009

Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at 7:00 p.m., marks Opening Night of JIHAD JONES & THE KALASHNIKOV BABES, a new comedy making its National New Play Network World Premiere during InterAct Theatre Company's continuing 2008/2009 Season. Written by acclaimed Arab-American playwright, Yussef El Guindi, JIHAD JONES is a fast and furious satire examining the effect Hollywood's stereotyping of Arab-Americans has on one up-and-coming actor. InterAct's production of JIHAD JONES is one of three "rolling" World Premieres as part of the National New Play Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund, through which the play was produced in June 2008 at Golden Thread Productions (San Francisco, CA) and will be produced in May 2009 at Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas, TX).

ABOUT THE PLAY
In JIHAD JONES & THE KALASHNIKOV BABES, Ashraf is an actor who has just received rave reviews for his performance of Hamlet at a struggling theatre in Los Angeles. But he's only earning $200 a week and he's having trouble paying the bills. He needs his big break. A starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster. And that's just what his smarmy agent is offering: a feature film, big money, working for his favorite director, and playing opposite his favorite Tinsel Town starlet. All Ashraf has to do is play the most stereotypically evil, fanatical Islamic terrorist ever to grace the silver screen. JIHAD JONES. follows Ahraf as he battles the infamous slippery slope, while hilariously balancing his personal ethics and cultural pride against his professional ambition.

In a recent interview with Rebecca Wright, InterAct's Literary Director, playwright Yussef El Guindi described his inspiration behind the writing of JIHAD JONES: "The idea for the play began after seeing one too many films where the villains were Arabs and Muslims. . I'll be sitting there in the movie theater, watching this Arab or Middle-Eastern actor doing this vile impersonation of Arab as odious villain and I'll be thinking, 'What did you see in this part that made you say 'yes'? Are you insane?'. At the same time I have sympathy for these struggling actors. So it was both the anger and empathy I felt for these Middle-Eastern actors taking on these roles that in part became the genesis for this play."

Addressing how JIHAD JONES tackles tough, social issues in a comedic way, El Guindi explained, "In general, I do tend to lean towards comedy, even when dealing with harsh subjects. I don't know if it's the culture of cynicism and irony that has so colored my outlook that I tend to see things through the prism of absurdity. [but] even if the play gets terribly serious at certain points, I know I can hopefully find my way back to the laughs.." When asked why JIHAD JONES is a perfect fit for InterAct, Seth Rozin, Producing Artstic Director, adds, "It's hard to find plays that fullfill InterAct's mission and are also smart, straight-forward comedies, so it's refreshing and liberating when a play like JIHAD JONES comes along. It has serious issues at it's core, but it's also a fun ride for the audience."

Critics showered praise on JIHAD JONES during its Bay Area run. San Francisco Bay Guardian critic Kat Renz cheered, "'JIHAD JONES fulfills its mission of presenting Middle Eastern perspectives - in this case, that of an Arab American actor offered a career-breaking role as an insane, hostage-holding, raping-and-pillaging terrorist. . the audience suffers (with lots of laughter) [the lead character's] futile attempts to convince himself that the 'dream role' is truly satire and not a gross denigration of his entire culture." The San Francisco Chronicle's Robert Hurwitt applauded, "Various movie stereotypes emerge, clash and collapse in upon themselves. JIHAD is a remarkably fresh and entertaining new take on the much-overworked theme of Tinseltown corruption."

To read an interview with the playwright in its entirety or an excerpt of the script of JIHAD JONES, visit www.interacttheatre.org.

DATES & TICKETS
JIHAD JONES runs for 27 performances, April 10 - May 10, 2009, with preview performances April 10, 11, 12, 14 and Opening Night on Wednesday, April 15. Performances during InterAct Theatre Company's 2008/2009 Season are Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. All performances are held on the Mainstage of The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia, PA.

Tickets for individual performances, which are on sale now, are $15.00 for preview performances; $24.00 for performances Tuesdays through Thursdays; and $28.00 for performances Friday & Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees. InterAct offers discounts for senior citizens and full-time students (with valid I.D.). Group rates are available, and students with proper I.D. may purchase Rush Tickets for $10.00 five minutes before curtain (based on availability). Reservations or more information can be obtained by calling 215-568-8079, by dropping by the InterAct Theatre Company box office at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia, PA, or by visiting InterAct Theatre Company's website at www.interacttheatre.org.

SPECIAL EVENTS DURING JIHAD JONES
During the run of JIHAD JONES, InterAct will host several post-performance talk-backs to encourage further discussion on the issues raised. Speaker Sundays, a series featuring invited scholars, community leaders and artists, are scheduled to follow matinee performances on Sunday, April 19, 26 and May 3. Coffee Conversations, an informal discussion with the production's artists and designers, are scheduled to follow performances on Tuesday, April 21; Wednesday, April 22; Tuesday, April 28 and Wednesday, April 29.

Current line-up of guest speakers:

Sunday, April 19: T.B.A.

Sunday, April 26: T.B.A.

Tuesday, April 28: Post-show discussion featuring Ennis Carter, Founder & Director of Design For Social Impact, a creative organization that focuses on a broad definition of Design - ideas, messages, organization and visual design - to combine artistry & activism in order to call attention to important social issues.

Sunday, May 3: Post-show discussion featuring Dr. Salman Akhtar, Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson University

For an up-to-the-minute schedule of talk-back guests, visit www.interacttheatre.org. Other Special Events:

Saturday, April 11: Special One-Time-Only Saturday Matinee at 2:00 p.m.

Friday, April 17: Free reception honoring the opening of Posters For The People, an exhibition of posters from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program created during the 1930's and 1940's under Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, which employed thousands of citizens, including hundreds of out-of-work artists, during the Great Depression. Co-sponsored by Design For Social Impact.

Friday, April 24: Happy Hour reception at 7:00 p.m. Patrons under 30 years of age only pay $20.00 for reception and a ticket to the JIHAD JONES performance. Proof of age required.

JIHAD JONES & THE NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK
InterAct's production of JIHAD JONES. is the second of three "rolling" World Premieres as part of National New Play Network (NNPN)'s Continued Life of New Plays Fund, a cooperative venture designed to insure that new plays will see future productions beyond the initial world premiere. Partnerships of 3 theatres receive funds in support of multiple productions of the same new play. Each theatre produces its own independent "rolling" World Premiere production, which guarantees an opportunity for the play to grow and flourish through contact with a wider national audience. As part of the program, InterAct's premiere of JIHAD JONES was preceded by a production at Golden Thread (San Francisco, CA), in June 2008 and will be followed by a production at Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas, TX) in May 2009.

Founded in 1998 with InterAct as one of its original members, NNPN is an alliance of twenty not-for-profit professional theatres across the United States that champions the development, production and continued life of new plays for the American theatre. For more information about the National New Play Network visit www.nnpn.org.

RELEVENT BIOGRAPHIES
Yussef El Guindi (Playwright) is a recent finalist for the 2009 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) Award, the nation's largest new play award, for his play, OUR ENEMIES: LIVELY SCENES OF LOVE AND COMBAT, which was produced last season by Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago. Other recent productions include JIHAD JONES AND THE KALASHNIKOV BABES, produced by Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco and scheduled to be produced by Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas in May 2009; and BACK OF THE THROAT, winner of the 2004 Northwest Playwrights' Competition held by Theater Schmeater, Seattle Times' 2005 Best New Play and L.A. Weekly's 2006 Excellence in Playwriting Award, as well as a nominee for the 2006 Steinberg/ ATCA Award. BACK OF THE THROAT was first staged by San Francisco's Thick Description and Golden Thread Productions; then later presented in various theaters around the country including The Flea Theater in New York. Another of his plays, TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH, staged by Silk Road Theatre Project, won the After Dark Award for Best New Play in Chicago in 2006. His two-related one-acts, ACTS OF DESIRE, were staged by the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. BACK OF THE THROAT, and the two related one-acts, now titled, SUCH A BEAUTIFUL VOICE IS SAYEDA'S and KARIMA'S CITY, have been published by Dramatists Play Service. The latter one-acts have also been included in The Best American Short Plays: 2004-2005 published by Applause Books in 2008. His play, TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH, is to be included in Salaam/Peace: An Anthology of Middle-Eastern-American Playwrights, to be published by TCG in 2009. Yussef holds an MFA from Carnegie-Mellon University and was playwright-in-residence at Duke University.

To read an interview with Yussef El Guindi, playwright of JIHAD JONES, visit www.interacttheatre.org.

Seth Rozin (Director) co-founded InterAct Theatre Company in 1988, and has since served as Producing Artistic Director. He has directed over 40 productions for InterAct, including Israel Horovitz's LEBENSRAUM (1999 Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play, Outstanding Overall Production of a Play, and Outstanding Ensemble), IT'S ALL TRUE (2001 Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Overall Production), and PERMANENT COLLECTION (2004 Barrymore nomination for Outstanding Overall Production). He has twice been named "Best Director" by the Philadelphia Inquirer for the world premiere of Thomas Gibbons' 6221 in 1993 and for LEBENSRAUM. Other notable productions with InterAct include the world premieres of Thomas Gibbons' BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE, BLACK RUSSIAN and A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS; Larry Loebell's HOUSE, DIVIDED; and the Philadelphia premieres of SKIN IN FLAMES, BLUE/ORANGE, NIXON'S NIXON, AUNT DAN AND LEMON, LONELY PLANET, SEASCAPE, and GOD'S COUNTRY. Seth has also directed for the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, Blue Heron Theatre and the 45th Street Theatre in New York, as well as regionally with Act II Playhouse, Venture Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival, and the University of Pennsylvania. As a playwright, Seth is the recipient of two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as The Smith Prize for his play BLACK GOLD. MEN OF STONE and MISSING LINK garnered Barrymore Award nominations for Outstanding New Play in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Seth has served on funding and/or award panels for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Theatre Communications Group, and the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist. He has served on the Boards of the Women's Theatre Festival, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, New Paradise Laboratories, Fresh Visions Youth Theatre, and the National New Play Network (for which he served as Chair from 2002-2006).

Fajer Al-Kaisi (as Ashraf) makes his InterAct Theatre Company debut in JIHAD JONES. On stage, Fajer has performed in the Iraqi Refugee Project (New York Theatre Workshop), the Arab American Comedy Fest '08 (Zipper Factory NYC), GIRL BLOG FROM IRAQ (Dallas Theatre Center), and OMNIUM GATHERUM (Zachary Scott Theatre), among others. Fajer has been seen in several films, including Clearance and I'll Come Running, as well as on television in "30 Rock" and "Time Bomb." He has also written and workshoped his solo performance piece, FROM AUSTIN TO BAGHDAD IN 3 EASY PIECES, which premiered to wide acclaim at the University Coop Cohen New Works festival in Austin, TX. Iraqi-Canadian by way of Texas, Fajer completed his Masters in Acting from the University of Texas at Austin.

John Zak (as Barry) makes his InterAct Theatre Company debut in JIHAD JONES. He was last seen in A TUNA CHRISTMAS at the Walnut Street Theatre and other recent credits include THE EUROPEAN LESSON (Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (European tour, Spring 2009)) and GALILEO (The Wilma Theatre). John has been acting in the Philadelphia area for 13 years performing with many area theatres. He received a 2006 Barrymore award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Caliban in THE TEMPEST (Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival). John also performs competitive improvisational comedy regularly with Comedy Sportz.

Leah Walton (as Peggy) returns to InterAct after appearing as Hanna in SKIN IN FLAMES. Recent performances include THE ODD COUPLE (Walnut Street Theatre), 10% OF MOLLY SNYDER (Montgomery Theatre), and TALK RADIO (New City Stage), among many others. She has been a part of two Barrymore Nominated Best Ensembles: PAY UP (Pig Iron Theatre Co.) and SPRING AWAKENING (EgoPo Productions). Original pieces created include THE GIANT SQUID for the 2008 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Leah trained at Ithaca College, the National Theater Institute and the Moscow Art Theatre School.

Peter Schmitz (as Julius) makes his InterAct Theatre Company debut in JIHAD JONES. He has appeared locally with The Walnut Street Theatre (including HAIRSPRAY and LES MISERABLES), the Arden Theatre (THE DINOSAUR MUSICAL and WINESBURG, OHIO) and Act II Playhouse (ALMOST, MAINE). He has also worked at the Guthrie Theatre, the Minneapolis Children's Theatre, and the Penumbra Theatre, the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C., the Portland Stage Company in Maine, Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. In New York, he has played on Broadway (MY FAIR LADY), off-Broadway, and in off-off Broadway (Suzan-Lori Parks' IMPERCEPTIBLE MUTABILITIES IN THE THIRD KINGDOM). Peter's on-camera credits include the Oscar-winning Coen Brothers' movie Fargo.

Laura Catlaw (as Cassandra) makes her InterAct Theatre Company debut in JIHAD JONES. Laura was last seen in Philly as the Placard Girl in 11th Hour's REEFER MADNESS. Past credits include the first national tour of THE BACKYARDIGANS with Nickelodeon, HAIR and STRIKING 12 (Prince Music Theatre), A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Arden Theatre Co.), MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE and THOSE WERE THE DAYS (Bristol Riverside Theatre) and Jackie O in HOUSE OF YES (Flashpoint Theatre Company).

The design team for JIHAD JONES... includes Set Design by Adam Riggar, Costume Design by Susan Smythe, Lighting Design by Peter Escalada-Mastick, and Props by Amanda Hatch. The production will be Stage Managed by Joshua Lieberman, with Rebecca Wright serving as Dramaturg, Jessica Hurley serving as Assistant Director, Kia Feindt as Assistant Stage Manager and Britt Plunkett as Technical Director.

CONTINUING INTERACT'S 2008/2009 SEASON
In May 2009, InterAct's season concludes with the World Premiere of the new drama LITTLE LAMB. Written by Philadelphia playwright Michael Whistler, LITTLE LAMB is the first play to emerge from InterAct's new 20/20 New Play Commission program. LITTLE LAMB tells the story of Denny and José, a gay couple who want to be daddies and decide to adopt. They ask their adoption agent, Cathy, to help them procure a baby. Believing the couple would make great parents, Cathy finds Denny and José an African-American baby girl from Texas and the happy family begins their new life together. But when Cathy receives an unexpected visit from the birth mother, who has strong opinions about the placement of her daughter, Denny and José face the unthinkable and Cathy is forced to choose between her progressive values, her African-American heritage and her devout Christian beliefs. Featuring a cast that includes Ames Adamson, Cathy Simpson, and Kaci M. Fannin, who earned rave reviews in BLACK GOLD at InterAct last season, LITTLE LAMB will be directed by Seth Rozin and will run from May 29 through June 28, 2009.

ABOUT INTERACT THEATRE COMPANY
Founded in 1988, InterAct is a theatre for today's world, producing new and contemporary plays that explore the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. InterAct's aim is to educate, as well as entertain, its audiences, by producing world-class, thought-provoking productions, and by using theatre as a tool to foster positive social change. Through its artistic and educational programs, InterAct seeks to make a significant contribution to the cultural life of Philadelphia and to the American theatre. To date, InterAct has presented 64 main stage productions, including 25 world premieres, 2 U.S. premieres, and more than 30 Philadelphia premieres. The company has received 37 Barrymore Award nominations and 13 Awards. InterAct's main stage productions have provided work for over 500 local artists.

In addition to the 4-play mainstage season, InterAct Theatre's major programming includes InterAction, an award-winning program of experiential workshops and residencies in area schools that utilize theatre as a tool to illuminate pressing social problems in the community; New Play Development, working closely with playwrights to develop plays that adhere to the company's mission; Writing Aloud, an award-winning series of Monday evening events in which short fiction by the region's best writers is read aloud by professional actors; and the Kaki Marshall Arts and Community Award, an annual fundraising event that recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the lively arts in Philadelphia.

Due to the nature of live theatre, play selection, performance and casting are subject to change.