Karen, I Said directed by alumna Tara Ahmadinejad '14, premiered last month in an encore livestream production. Karen, I Said is a three-part, 45-minute Zoom presentation. The production was written by and starred Eliza Bent who performs the entire play as a 45 minute monologue.
The play is a hilarious satire and begins as an Instagram story about a white lady’s friend named Karen. This satire on wokeness shows one white woman’s attempt to “out woke” her white friend. The play addresses familiar scenarios with satirical slant. At the beginning of the play, Karen has called the police on a man of color for delivering a meat lasagna instead of the “vegetarian goddess” variety she ordered. Comedy, chaos, an unprompted tour of Karen’s mundane apartment, and camera shots where Karen’s face is a bit too close to the camera are all parts of this Zoom adventure.
Ahmadinejad’s direction is praised by New York Times critic Jesse Green who called this livestream encore production “Even more scathing when it punctures the pretensions of a visible Zoom audience.” A portion of box office proceeds from Karen, I Said were donated to Brave Space Alliance, the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ Center located on the South Side of Chicago.
Tara Ahmadinejad is a director, originally from Philadelphia. She has directed/co-created shows with Piehole since its founding in 2008. Tara develops and directs new plays, and teaches and directs in educational settings. She recently directed Lunch Bunch by Sarah Einspanier as part of Clubbed Thumb's Winterworks, is developing Emily Black is a Total Gift by alumna Daaimah Mubashshir ’15 with music by Julia Sirna-Frest and Shane Chapman, and directed Leap and the Net Will Appear by Chana Porter, produced by New Georges in June 2019. New Georges Affiliated Artist; NYTW Usual Suspect.
A clip of Karen, I Said can be viewed on All for One Theater’s Facebook page. Bent and Ahmadinejad plan to release the full production on Vimeo sometime in the near future.
