Recently the original script, "Fanna fi Hayati: Love Sex Work, and the Sacred," was accepted as a participant in NYC's Rogue Theater Festival which takes place in June 2022. The piece will be part of their digital streaming offerings in order to facilitate greater COVID-related accessibility, as well as feature shows from other parts of the country. "Fanna" hails from Portland and Central Oregon, and will seek local queer and trans talent to bring the piece to life!

The purpose of the fundraiser is to generate funding for space rental, paying actors, and recording/editing of a reading of the play for submission and airing to a global audience starting June 30th. Your contribution goes directly to reading production and recording, and paying local queer and trans acting talent, and helps bring exposure to queer/trans stories and Central Oregon regional theater as a whole!

About the play:

Fanna fi Hayati: Love, Sex Work, and the Sacred, is a full-length play based on a true story that follows the relationship between Dani and Farzin—a trans woman and an Iranian-Sufi academic—as the two endeavor to maintain an allowing and affirming relationship as Dani transitions into professional sex work. Their connection is tested as each strives to face their own limitations and to be self-honoring while honoring the other amidst their own internalized prejudices and stigma. Works by famous Sufi poets such as Rumi and Hafiz and original poetry drive the plot forward in a celebration of the sacredness of sex work and the intersection of sexuality and spirituality. The play breaks the 4th wall by requiring the audience to vote between two potential endings and to face their beliefs and fears about relationships and true love.

The Rogue Theater Festival is ecstatic to be able to feature an original play by a queer and trans playwright-director, and a show that features a transgender protagonist. However, the Festival requires that each show be self-producing, and only offers publicity and streaming opportunities--not production funding. It is up to the playwright-director and their team to raise funds and submit the project in a digitally recorded format.

My name is Avery Grace, and I am the playwright and director for Fanna fi Hayati. I am asking of our queer/trans communities and networks for funding to produce the script in order to more widely tell this critical story, one which addresses an intersection of issues faced by the trans community and is based on true stories. Please be part of our efforts to raise $1,500 to cover the expenses of hiring queer and trans actors, as well as videography and editing services in order to submit this ground breaking play to the Rogue Theater Festival and beyond!

Take "Fanna fi Hayati: Love, Sex Work, and the Sacred," to NYC's Rogue Theater Festival!

By Avery Grace

Take "Fanna fi Hayati: Love, Sex Work, and the Sacred," to NYC's Rogue Theater Festival!

Telling queer/trans stories, by queer/trans artists

Team Members