2024-2025 Denham Fellowship

SDCF is thrilled to announce Dalia Ashurina as this season’s SDCF Denham Fellow for her upcoming production of Iraq, but Funny by Atra Asdou opening in June 2025 produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. The Denham Fellowship is awarded annually to women who are early and mid-career directors to further develop their directing skills. The Denham Fellowship comes with a $10,000 award. Ashurina was unanimously selected for this honor by a panel comprised of Mina Morita (committee chair), Paige Hernandez, Nancy Keystone, Monique Midgette, and Dawn Monique Williams.

About Dalia Ashurina

Photo by Marilyn Days Photography @marilyndays

Dalia is an Assyrian-American director and writer. Her work focuses on explosive theatricality and telling the stories of Middle Eastern women. Her Broadway credits include serving as the Associate Director of Sweeney Todd and as the Resident Director of Phantom of the Opera. She recently directed the world premiere of Three Tall Persian Women by Awni Abdi-Bahri at Shakespeare and Co. that is running through October 13th.

This last year, she curated and directed the cultural concert, Omar Bashir: Back to My Assyrian Roots, in Salamanca, Spain at the University of Salamanca. Her new play development work has been seen at Lookingglass Theatre, Shakespeare and Co., San Francisco Playhouse, Breath of Fire, Sound Bites, Wayward Artists Ensemble, Playwrights Arena, Dixon Place, Access Theatre, and heard on the Parsnip Ship Radio Theatre Podcast.

She is an alum of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship in Directing at Arena Stage, and before that, she assisted at Center Theatre Group and Cornerstone Theatre. She is also an alum of UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts 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.

About Iraq, but Funny by Atra Asdou

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.

Who knew colonialism could be so fun!

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About the Denham Fellowship

Established by Mary Orr Denham in 2006 with a bequest to the SDC Foundation in honor of her late husband, Reginald H. F. Denham, the Denham Fellowship is awarded annually to women who are early and mid-career directors to further develop their directing skills. The Denham Fellowship recipient is selected by the Denham Committee, which is made up of theatre professionals.

Past recipients include Cristine Carole, Colette Robert, Arpita Mukherjee, Michelle Bossy, May Adrales, Tea Alagic, Rachel Alderman, Kathleen Amshoff, Jessi Hill, Joanie Schultz, Pirronne Yousefzadeh, Bridget Leak, Hannah Ryan, Diane Rodriguez, and Shirley Jo Finney.