Salma Mahmoud

It was so rewarding working at a non-profit theater organization, Redhouse Arts Center, to help with their production of the musical “Tuck Everlasting,” adapted for young audiences. I interned at Redhouse because I strongly align with its mission statement and wanted to contribute my time and efforts to an organization with such a positive purpose- to serve the community by providing leading and inclusive experiences through its theater and educational programs. 

The biggest takeaway I gained from this experience is that civic engagement can be creative opportunities and helping others express themselves through other means they may not get the chance to in their regular lives. Moreover, this civic engagement opportunity has allowed me to give back to my community and served as a learning experience where I understood more about professional behavior in a rehearsal room and how a director may communicate with their actors and crew. 

Serving as an Assistant Director provided me with the skills one needs to successfully talk to a cast and crew about a production, and to properly execute a vision that serves the text and company’s mission/purpose. This experience inspired me to write and direct my own play which will serve as my thesis in the Fall ’25 semester. Reflecting on the current sociopolitical state of the world, I decided to write a play titled “MEN>women,” exploring the historical and political negligence of women’s bodies and weaves a powerful coming-of-age story. At its heart, the play follows a young girl navigating adulthood in a world that resists women’s empowerment. Alongside her family’s matriarchs, she uncovers long-buried secrets and confronts the systemic failures that have oppressed the women who’ve come before her.