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LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
IRAQ, BUT FUNNY
BY ENSEMBLE MEMBER ATRA ASDOU AND
DIRECTED BY DALIA ASHURINA
MAY 29 - JULY 20
Content Notice: Iraq, But Funny contains mature content and partial nudity and is intended for an adult audience.
The estimated running time is two hours and 15 minutes including one intermission.
Tickets are Now on Sale for this Dark Comedy that Explores the History, Dysfunction and Five Generations of Assyrian Mother/Daughter Relationships from the Ottoman Empire to Modern-Day U.S.A.
Chicago’s Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production, the world premiere of Iraq, But Funny, May 29 - July 20, 2025, in The Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. This semi-autobiographical play is written by Ensemble Member Atra Asdou and directed by Dalia Ashurina and features Susaan Jamshidi, Gloria Imseih Petrelli, James Rana, Sina Pooresmaeil and Atra Asdou.
Iraq, But Funny has previews Thursday, May 29 - Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday, June 4 - Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m., with a press opening on Saturday, June 7 at 6 p.m. The performance schedule for June 8 - July 20 is Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m., Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m., with additional Tuesday performances at 7 p.m. on June 17 and July 1. There will be no performances on the holidays of Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19) and the Fourth of July (Friday, July 4). The estimated running time is two hours and 15 minutes including one intermission. Iraq, But Funny single tickets are $30 - $90 and are available at LookingglassTheatre.org.
A raucous satire about five generations of Assyrian women reclaiming their stories, as narrated by a British guy. Making its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre, Ensemble Member Atra Asdou’s original dark comedy jauntily marches through the Ottoman Empire to modern-day U.S.A. exploring history, family and dysfunction.
"When you think of Iraq, you don't usually think of comedy. I started writing Iraq, But Funny four years ago because I needed a place to put my family's stories and wanted to share a side of my people audiences rarely see: their sense of humor,” said Playwright Atra Asdou. "Iraq, But Funny explores the cyclical nature of mother/daughter and familial/generational relationships and how they relate to the cyclical nature of invasions, war and world history.
And who better to give voice to Assyrian women than a British guy who narrates the whole thing. I'm also in the cast of Iraq, But Funny and we hope to make you laugh, learn and feel like you're part of the family, too. Who knew colonialism could be so fun!"
The cast of Iraq, But Funny includes Susaan Jamshidi (she/her, Actor 1); Gloria Imseih Petrelli (she/they, Actor 2); James Rana (he/him, Actor 3); Sina Pooresmaeil (he/him, Actor 4) and Atra Asdou+ (she/her, Actor 5).
More information on the cast and creative teams may be found here:
The creative team of Iraq, But Funny is Atra Asdou+ (she/her, writer); Dalia Ashurina (she/her, director); Isabel Patt (they/them, stage manager); Lili Bjorklund (they/them, assistant stage manager); Omid Akbari (he/him, scenic designer); Christine A. Binder~ (she/her, lighting designer); Mara Blumenfeld+ (she/her, costumer designer);
Christie Chiles Twillie (she/her, sound designer); Avi Amon (he/him, composer); Amanda Herrmann (they/them, props designer); Michael Commendatore (he/him, projections designer) and Naysan Mojgani (he/him, dramaturg).
+ Connotes Lookingglass Ensemble Member
~ Connotes Lookingglass Artistic Associate
ABOUT ATRA ASDOU, writer
Atra Asdou is a writer and actor commanding traditional stage dramas (Steppenwolf, Goodman, Lookingglass, Yale Repertory) and non-traditional written and improvised comedy (The Second City, iO Chicago, Brooklyn Comedy Collective). As a Lookingglass ensemble member, she was recently awarded two writers in residencies for her full-length play, Iraq, But Funny. Asdou also wrote and performed three original, critically acclaimed satirical sketch revues for The Second City Chicago e.t.c. stage. Her debut feature screenplay, IZZA, was a beloved finalist at The Chicago International Film Festival Industry Days, and her short films, “Reneè” and “Fever” have earned festival laurels from around the world. Her recent TV/Film credits include “Zero Day” and “And Just Like That…” She lives in New York City, performing stand up around the city and improvising at Brooklyn Comedy Collective with Donna's Beef.
ABOUT DALIA ASHURINA, director
Dalia Ashurina is an Assyrian-American director and writer focusing on explosive theatricality and subverting existing narratives. She was listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood and Entertainment 2025 publication. Her Broadway credits include serving as associate director of Sweeney Todd and as the resident director at Phantom of the Opera. She has worked with Shakespeare and Company, Lookingglass Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Center Theater Group, Cornerstone Theater, Arena Stage, Wayward Artists Ensemble and the Parsnip Ship Podcast. Internationally, she directed the concert “Omar Bashir, Back to My Assyrian Roots” at the University of Salamanca in Spain. She is an alum of UC Irvine where she graduated with a B.A. in drama and honors in directing. She received a grant from the National New Play Network to write Edessa of Baghdad with composer Avi Amon and is the 2024-2025 SDCF Denham Fellow.
ABOUT THE JOAN AND PAUL THEATRE
The main stage at the Water Tower Water Works has been named in honor of longtime Lookingglass supporters Joan and Paul Rubschlager and their transformational gift to ensure the future of Lookingglass. The couple have been instrumental in their partnership with Chicago organizations, such as Rush University and The Field Museum. Nationally, their support extends to the American Heart Association and Alzheimer's Association. The Joan and Paul Theatre reconfigures the stage and audience seating as dictated by the needs of each season, with a capacity of 200 persons including the balcony.
ABOUT LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
Founded in 1988 by graduates of Northwestern University, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works and in sharing its ensemble-based theatrical techniques with Chicago-area students and teachers through Education and Community Programs. Guided by an artistic vision centered on the core values of collaboration, transformation and invention, Lookingglass seeks to capture audiences’ imaginations leaving them changed, charged and empowered.
Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and ensemble-based theatrical innovation. Notable world premieres include Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award-winning Metamorphoses and The Odyssey, J. Nicole Brooks' Her Honor Jane Byrne, David Schwimmer’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Studs Terkel’s Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession, Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon and David Catlin’s circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice, which was captured by HMS Media and reached 1.6 million PBS viewers.Looking Alice is now available to more than four million students worldwide through Digital Theatre+. Work created by Lookingglass artists has been produced in Australia, Europe and dozens of cities throughout the United States.
MORE FROM LOOKINGGLASS
Sunset 1919
Sunday, July 27 at 7 p.m.
Eugene Williams Memorial Marker
125 Fort Dearborn Drive, Chicago 60615
1/4 mile north of 31st Street Beach
Free
LookingglassTheatre.org/event/sunset-1919-2024/
Sunset 1919 is an annual community art ritual performed in honor of Eugene Williams, a Black teenager who was killed for crossing an imaginary racial line on the waves of Mishigami (from Ojibwa “Great Water”). Sunset 1919 was first curated and coordinated in 2020 by Ensemble Member and Creative Producer Kareem Bandealy and Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks and it offers a communal moment to acknowledge our Indigenous roots and for Black artists to merge movement, music and word in a free, spirit-guided ritual.
Summergglass Camps
August 4 - 15
Lookingglass Theatre, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave.
Enrollment: $450
LookingglassTheatre.org/summergglass-camp-2025/
Through drama and creative play, the experienced teaching artists of Summergglass will focus camp days to explore creative problem solving, collaboration, story structure, speaking directly to the audience and all the inventive visual storytelling that makes Lookingglass so special. This year’s Summerglass Camps include Paper Magic: Shadow Puppet Camp, August 4 - 8, and Mysterious City: Chicago Scavenger Hunt Camp, August 11 - 15.
Mornings are spent working with teaching artists to learn many of the same theatre techniques and skills used to create Lookingglass shows. During the afternoons, campers will work on their drama skills as they create and adapt original stories to share on the final day of camp.
Summerglass Camp: Paper Magic: Shadow Puppet Camp
August 4 – 8 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Ages: 6 – 10
Lights. Paper. Magic! Create epic adventures with shadow puppets as campers design, build and bring puppets to life using storytelling traditions from around the world.
Through creative drama and movement games, this camp explores folk tales from around the world, inventing original heroes and villains and building magical stories to share! Learn the fundamentals of Lookingglass playmaking techniques, explore design and story structure and go to the park each day for lunch. By the end of the session, friends and family are invited to join campers on a magical adventure into, and out of, the shadows.
Summerglass Camp: Mysterious City: Chicago Scavenger Hunt Camp
August 11 – 15 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Ages 8 – 14
The Mysterious City Society needs your help! Together, campers will build a summer adventure demanding all of their creativity and daring-do. The mission: report to the historic Lookingglass Water Tower theatre for a scavenger hunt camp that will take campers through the Lookingglass, beyond the pumping station pipes and back in time through the pop culture, music and movements and milestones of Chicago’s not-so-distant past. Young adventurers will learn the fundamentals of Lookingglass playmaking techniques, explore the structure of scavenger hunts and choose “your own adventure” stories, search for clues on walking field trips and work with Lookingglass teaching artists to create an original scavenger hunt play to share with family and friends.
Iraq, But Funny production sponsors include MAP Fund and Venturous Theatre Fund with Manilow Suites, production supporter.
The 2024 - 2025 season sponsors are the City of Chicago, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Hearn, HMS Media, Illinois Arts Council, Joan & Paul Rubschlager, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Waldorf Astoria and Steve & Lorrayne Weiss.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave.
Written by Ensemble Member Atra Asdou
Directed by Dalia Ashurina
Featuring Susaan Jamshidi, Gloria Imseih Petrelli, James Rana, Sina Pooresmaeil and Atra Asdou
Previews: Thursday, May 29 - Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 4 - Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night is Saturday, June 7 at 6 p.m.
The performance schedule for June 8 - July 20 is
Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
Thursdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m.
Fridays at 7 p.m.
Saturdays at 1:30 and 7 p.m.
Sundays at 1:30 p.m.
with additional Tuesday performances at 7 p.m. on June 17 and July 1.
There will be no performances on the holidays of Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19) and the Fourth of July (Friday, July 4).
Mask Required Performances: Friday, June 13 at 7 p.m and Wednesday, July 2 at 7p.m.
Open Caption Performance: Tuesday, June 27 at 7 p.m.
Audio Described and Touch Tour: Saturday, June 21 at 7 p.m.
Website: LookingglassTheatre.org
Single tickets are $30 - $90 and are available at LookingglassTheatre.org/event/iraq-but-funny/
