Henna Leaves
libretto by Laura Barati
music by Aleksandra M. Weil
Set against the background of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Henna Leaves follows best friends and Afghan poets Afia and Dorakshan as they fight to make their voices heard on opposite ends of the world. As Dorakshan explores her independence as a graduate student in New York City, Afia struggles to keep writing her poetry as her family pressures her into marriage. Inspired by the poetry and stories of Afghan women who write landay folk poems as a means of personal expression and spiritual survival—often endangering their own lives and reputations in the process—Henna Leaves is an exploration of friendship, love, and family through the lens of two contemporary, Muslim young women.
Development and Recognition
The American Opera Project and NYU Opera Lab Workshop Production. Dir. Sam Helfrich, May 2017, NYC.