“I Heart Maroc,” written and performed by Azo Safo, and developed with and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson plays at Whitefire Theatre’s SOLOFEST 2020 on February 5 and on demand February 11.
About
In “I Heart Maroc,” Azo Safo introduces us to the lives of rural Moroccans who she worked with as a twenty-four-year-old Peace Corps volunteer during the height of the Bush administration’s war on Iraq. On the quest to find her life’s purpose with the wide-eyed, innocent hope of changing the world, she is thrust into a culture she has to figure out using her Armenian-American immigrant sensibilities. Beginning with learning the Berber language that she is told she is too “Kesoula” to learn, she must navigate anti-American sentiment and win over ALL the villagers while nurturing a budding romance with her Moroccan true love, Mohammed. Will she get through her two-year service in one piece, or will she obey her Armenian immigrant mother’s wishes and move back to Glendale to marry an Armenian dentist?
Azo Safo’s “I Heart Maroc” is directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson and will be performed for Solo Fest 2022 at the Whitefire Theatre (13500 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423) on Saturday, January 29th at 8:00 p.m. The performance will be a hybrid with both in person audiences (following LA County and CDC Covid protocols) and Vimeo On-Demand which can be viewed from anywhere in the world.
Reviews
Azo Safo is a Los Angeles-based writer and actor who wrote the award-winning one woman play, “I Heart Maroc” in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns. It debuted at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2021 and was awarded a Best of Broadwater encore performance. All performances were met with positive audience reviews. One audience reviewer said:
“Fun, touching and riveting, I Heart Maroc is a sweet mix of personal narrative and cultural analysis. I was smiling ear to ear throughout the show and was enthralled by Azo’s performance as she deftly switched between characters.”
Critic reviews were similarly positive. Harrison Held of Discover Hollywood Magazine described “I Heart Maroc” as a “fun, funny [and] fast moving solo show…” and “entertaining, illuminating and full of humor and soul”.
More recently, “I Heart Maroc” was nominated for the Broadway LA Regional Award for Best Solo Production. “I Heart Maroc” was also selected for the NAMBA Women’s Voices Festival and The Binge Fringe Festival at Santa Monica playhouse.
Jessica Lynn Johnson (Director and Developer) is a published playwright, recipient of Best National Solo Artist Award, Advisory Board Member of the LA Women’s Theatre Festival, and Founder and CEO of Soaring Solo LLC. Jessica has aided in the development of over 150 solo shows (and is still going strong)! As a performer, Jessica has “edu-tained” international audiences touring her own one person shows “ZE” and “Oblivious To Everyone” for over 15 years. Jessica’s projects have taken home awards such as Top Of Fringe, Hff Encore Producer Awards, Tvolution Best Solo Performance, Larry Cornwall Award For Musical Excellence & several other accolades! Jessica was also nominated for the Female Director of Distinction in Theatre by Girl Trip LLC at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival. www.SoaringSoloStudios.com
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