Aleema the Boy Girl

10-minute play
Aleema enjoys being a “bacha posh”— an Afghan girl raised as a boy. But with the onset of puberty her freedom won’t last long.  

Characters
ALEEMA      preteen girl, sporty, accepted as a boy
TABESH      preteen boy, nerdy
AZAD           street barber, young woman disguised as a man
MURSAL      Aleema’s sister, teenage, confident
 
Setting
 A street in Kabul, Afghanistan

Time
Present day
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This play may be performed as the second part of a collection of short plays: Brink Time.
​Published by YouthPLAYS. Also published in Girls on the Brink: Seven female-forward plays for young adults (YouthPLAYS).
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Balls : Acts of Bravery in a Gendered World
Brave New World
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
London
​June 26, 2019

Cast: Tahnee Kaya (Aleema), Fenar Mohammed-Ali (Tabesh), Nalân Burgess (Mursal), Iman Boujel (Azad)
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Nalân Burgess in white hijab (Mursal), Iman Boujel (Azad), Fenar Mohammed-Ali (Tabesh), Tahnee Kaya in red shorts (Aleema)
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Produced as "Aleema Wants a Haircut"
8 in 48 Idaho Short Play Festival
Treasure Valley Children's Theater
Meridian, Idaho
September 26, 2015
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Cast: Sheila McCoy (Aleema), Chris Bohme (Tabesh), Riley Zuschlag (Azad), Savannah Haislip (Mursal)

Directed by Valerie Baugh-Schlossberg

​The script won the SCREENER'S CHOICE AWARD.
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Chris Bohme (Tabesh)
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Riley Zuschlag (Azad), Sheila McCoy (Aleema) and Savannah Haislip (Mursal)
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Chris Bohme (Tabesh), Savannah Haislip (Mursal) and Sheila McCoy (Aleema)
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Sheila McCoy (Aleema) and Chris Bohme (Tabesh)
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Valerie Baugh-Schlossberg and cast rehearsing Aleema the Boy Girl in Meridian, Idaho
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Rehearsing Aleema the Boy Girl