Dishwasher Dreams – Digital Stream

Written and Performed by Alaudin Ullah

Directed by Chay Yew

Music by Avirodh Sharma

This digital performance has ended. 

Embark on a journey of the American Dream with comedian Alaudin Ullah and tabla musician Avirodh Sharma. With hilarious, transformative monologues driven by a percussive heartbeat, this play brings to life the many different characters and immigration experiences from 1930s Bangladesh, to 1970s Spanish Harlem, and present-day Hollywood.

A NOTE FROM MELIA

Dear Friends of Hartford Stage,

“Is this America?” says Alaudin Ullah’s father upon arriving in New York City as a new immigrant from Bangladesh. This mix of surprise, joy, disappointment, wonder at arriving on these shores echoes so many different immigrant experiences.

My own memories of coming to the United States from Mexico at 15 involve my amazement at the assortment of frozen foods available in the grocery store and forcing my family to eat frozen eggrolls for months after our arrival. I would place the frozen bag in boiling water, then remove and serve, and voila!

The American experience is different for all of us. In Dishwasher Dreams, gifted performer and comedian Alaudin Ullah brings to life his parents’ immigration journey to America, as well as reflecting on what it means to be a first-generation Muslim-American growing up in Spanish Harlem. It was a revelation to me to learn of the Bangladeshi experience in New York, where Puerto Ricans and Bengalis and African-Americans met in the hallways of apartment buildings and inside busy bodegas.

We are excited to invite you to hear more of these stories on our stage, and be a part of his journey of conciliation with his roots and his family.