03/19/2026
We're only one month away from the workshop production of Yussef El Guindi's Full-On Cleopatra, so we caught up with the playwright for a lively chat.
What excites you most about this production?
"The first realization on stage of any play is the most thrilling and nerve-racking part of any play’s life. Watching something that’s been in your head for months, perhaps years, be performed is equal parts a kind of exhaling from finally seeing your work on its feet, and holding your breath as you see that work take its first tentative steps. When you have two talented teams, Silk Road Cultural Center and Stage Center Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University, behind that endeavor, then, as a playwright, I can relax a little (do playwrights ever fully relax?) knowing the play is in good hands. "
What would you like audiences to know about Full-On Cleopatra?
"As with a lot of my plays, there’s an equal mix of comedy and drama. I’m not sure anything, however dramatic, doesn’t contain elements of the ridiculous. I think we are always slipping on the proverbial banana peel and being a source of much, often painful, humor. As the audience is drawn into the drama, I hope they will also be enlivened by the comedic elements."
Don't miss out on our workshop production of "Full-On Cleopatra" from April 15 - 25 with Stage Center Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University. Get your tickets today!
