Playwright Tamadhur Al-Aqeel (she/her) joined Company of Angels in Los Angeles in 2013 and has co-run their Playwrights’ Group since 2015. Short plays produced by Company of Angels were “The Little Bear” (2024), “Traffic Report” (2021), “Mush” (2020), “Crime Scene” (2019), “Coffee With My American Friend” (2018), “The Crayon Incident” for which she fabricated a life-sized puppet (2016), ”Z is for Loz Angelez” which incorporated shadow puppets (2015), and the 7-part “The Family Car” puppet show for which she was also a puppeteer (2014). Tamadhur conceived of and co-produced the 24-hour play festival, “Election Scream Therapy” in 2016 and co-produced CoA’s “This Land,” by Evangeline Ordaz (2017). Her full-length play, “Walk Like and Egyptian,” was short-listed for The Utah Shakespere Festival’s Words(3) new play series in 2023, and was part of The Vagrancy Playwrights Group’s Blossoming series in 2020. In addition to her continued work with Company of Angels, Tamadhur has had a number of plays produced or co-produced by Cornerstone Theater Company: “In The Bag” (2011, One-Minute Play Festival); “Branches” (2001); “The Market Tale” (1999); “Ride #14” (1997); “Family Tales” (1996); “Shahrazade and the Arabian Nights” (1994). Commissions include an adaptation of “Aladdin,” for California State University, Northridge’s Teen Age Drama Workshop; “Aladdin” was a finalist in the Anna Zornio Children’s Theatre Playwrighting Contest (2004). For San Diego State University’s Theater of the World festival, Tamadhur was commissioned to create a puppet show within-a-show for one of the plays (2009). Awards include a Golden Mic (2001) for “Best Original Commentary” (KPCC FM); and a Garland Award (2000) for Ensemble Performance in “For Here or to Go?” by Alison Carey, Cornerstone Theater Company at the Mark Taper Forum. “Shahrazad and the Arabian Nights” was nominated by the LA Weekly for Production of the Year, and Tamadhur won a Drama-Logue Award for that production’s sound design.
