Nabra Nelson
Nabra is a community organizer and theater creator from Egypt, Nubia, and California.
As a playwright, director, dramaturg, EDI consultant, administrator, and teaching artist, she works with theaters, universities, and community organizations across the nation to strengthen community and amplify under-heard voices.
She is a founding company member and grant writer for the Seattle-based MENA theater company Dunya Productions, a founding company member of the Milwaukee-based womxn-of-color performance troupe Heard Space Arts Collective, leads the Nubian Foundation for Preserving a Cultural Heritage, and is the co-host of the Kunafa & Shay Theater Podcast (produced by HowlRound Theatre Commons). Her plays have been produced and developed in Seattle, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Minneapolis.
She is a Dramatists Guild’s 2024-25 National Playwriting Fellow and a member of the Playwright Circle @ Speranza Theatre Company. As an independent scholar, she has been published by Routledge, Bloomsbury, the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal, and The Gemsbok.
She enjoys cooking and watching every type of movie with her husband, Daniel, and her dog Ashriya. She thinks that cats live the best lives, and tries to cultivate that level of inner peace and chaotic play.
Mostly she is very good at lazing around like a cat, and can strut like one when she wants to be fabulous.