SEVAN
What did a brilliant, young, foreign, Muslim woman nuclear scientist have to contend with working in the top secret world of nuclear power in the U.S. in the early 1950s? Samira Mussa Aly, Egypt’s first nuclear scientist, died at 35 under mysterious circumstances, less than two years after beginning her research in the U.S. In the chilling new play, MISS CURIE OF THE EAST, SEVAN pulls together the fragments of what’s known to reconstruct the remarkable life of a scientist who could have irrevocably changed the world had it not been for her gender, her religion, and her nationality.
MISS CURIE OF THE EAST will have its first public reading at 3:00 PM on November 14 at the Ensemble Studio Theater as part of the Fall 2024 EST/Sloan First Light Festival. The reading is free and reservations are encouraged.
We had so many questions; SEVAN answered all of them (answers edited for this interview)..
(Interview by Rich Kelley)
What inspired you to write MISS CURIE OF THE EAST?
Samira Mussa Aly (Public Domain)
Growing up, I was aware of the contributions from Arabs and Muslims to many areas during the Golden Age of Islam, but I found my knowledge of contemporary contributions lacking. When I was looking for inspiration, as I was filling out my EST/Sloan application, I came across a short snippet about Samira Mussa Aly, which led me down the rabbit hole of her life and the history of nuclear politics of the time.
I found her and her life absolutely fascinating and remarkable. I was also inspired by the half-life of nuclear particles as a structural jumping off point for the construction of the bones of the play. The story fits in with my mission as a writer of plays that build bridges across cultures, communities, and countries in an effort to expand awareness and understanding beyond stereotypes and archetypes. I want to expose people from all sides of the cultural fences to stories of the unknown or forgotten.
Why this play? Why now?
Given the current politics of and surrounding Middle Eastern, Arab, and Muslim communities and countries, there is a growing hesitation to and avoidance of supporting MENA artists and narratives. While this play doesn't directly relate to current politics, some might find it too “dangerous” and “risky” because stories that humanize and pluralize The Other are always dangerous and risky. They might lead to, God forbid, empathy and understanding. So, while I believe we NEED stories like this, especially in times like now, I am not so naive to think anyone is going to be brave enough to come near it or to have their personal politics shifted and questioned.
Your play is based on a historical figure, the nuclear scientist Samira Mussa Aly. You note in your script that there is a great deal of mystery and mythology and conflicting facts about her life. How did you decide what to include?
This was fun and frustrating. With the help of Dina Abd El-Aziz (an Egyptian costume designer) I was able to get a hold of her biography which only exists in Egypt. I translated it and found it full of inconsistencies and that it sometimes contradicted itself. Finding her PhD thesis was also helpful.
I went through three rounds of research. In every round, facts and information changed and new things suddenly appeared online. I thought I was losing my mind. I was sure that at any moment Black Ops were going to burst through my door and seize me. Thankfully, there are some concrete pieces of evidence which helped me connect all the red strings so I could figure out some kind of' “factual” story.
For example, the oft repeated story is that she was heading to a party in California when her car mysteriously drove off a cliff but at the crash site the driver's body was never found. Juicy stuff, right? But there are several news articles about the accident and her death that show it happened nowhere near California. At a certain point, I had to take what I knew to be fact and what I knew of the politics of the time and craft a narrative that best paid homage to her and to the time.
Do you have a theory about what caused her death? She was very active in working for the peaceful use of nuclear power. You show her addressing the first international Atoms for Peace conference she organized in London in 1952. Do you think her work for Atoms for Peace led to her death later that year?
Samira Mussa Aly aka Sameera Moussa (Photo: Beyond Curie)
Oh, I definitely have a theory. She had been a visiting scientist in the U.S. for a little more than a year and was being escorted around the United States by an Air Force civilian employee shortly before she was due to return home. It's possible this was an assassination, and certainly some facts point to it, but it might very well have just been a car accident. A few years after her death there was a rampant spate of mysterious deaths of Arab and Muslim scientists. But I don't think her work with Atoms for Peace caused her death, especially since Eisenhower stole her idea and the conference name to start the “first” atomic peace conference in the United States the following year. Her work was always being stolen and co-opted.
What do you want the audience to take away from seeing MISS CURIE OF THE EAST?
A remarkable story of a remarkable woman and a broadening of their understanding of what it means to be Arab or Muslim outside of the stereotypes and fear mongering that have taken over our lives.
What is the legacy of Samira Mussa Aly today?
Well, she doesn't have one, at least not one that is known outside of Egypt, which is why this play is important. We can thank her for all the current x-ray and radiation technologies we still use all over the world.
In addition to being a playwright, you have had a parallel career as an actor in numerous plays, television shows, and films. How has your work as an actor informed your playwriting?
Becoming a writer was an accident. During my first year in NYC, a fellow actor strong-armed me into writing for the Arab American Comedy Festival and that was it. I started to dabble some more, got into The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group and thought, "Alright, I suppose I better focus, shouldn't I?" Being an actor helped so much in understanding how to craft interesting dialogue for actors to speak; how to shape scenes and plays for their maximum effect. It wasn't until I moved to London for a few years that I was able to sit down and understand playwriting as craft and technique. That work also helped inform my acting process.
What playwrights have influenced you the most?
Euripides, Caryl Churchill, José Rivera, Yussef El Guindi, Simon Stephens, Tanika Gupta, Neil Simon, debbie tucker green.
What’s next for SEVAN?
I am a part of the Playwright Center's open season. In February, I'll be presenting a workshop performance of How to Watch an Immigrant Have a Racial Nervous Breakdown which is an audience-immersive solo musical performance that portrays the Neither-Here-Nor-There experience of 7 different MENASA immigrant characters navigating their new lives and identities in the West while asking how and if they can truly belong.
MISS CURIE OF THE EAST is one of three readings of new plays in development as part of the EST/Sloan Project in the Fall 2024 First Light Festival, which runs from October 24 through December 12. The festival is made possible through the alliance between the Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
