Adil Mansoor Talks About the Use of Archives and Oral History in Amm(i)gone

For this episode of Why We Collect, we talk with theatre director Adil Mansoor about Amm(i)gone, a new theater piece that goes on tour this month!

The play’s tagline is “Amm(i)gone, an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone, is an apology to and from a mother,” and the work incorporates recorded interviews with Mansoor’s mother along with selected family photographs and ephemera. We talk about these conversations and these objects—how the interviews were conducted, why certain objects were chosen. But we talk about so much more. The deepness of the work allows us to dig into a lot of juicy topics: making theater about the joyful feeling of making theater, power dynamics between interviewee and interviewer, editing (or not editing) oral history, talking about art with people you love, and the difficulties of making theater about one’s family. “We’re literally talking about the things we don’t talk about. That’s what the show is about,” says Mansoor. “The show is about how difficult it is to talk.”

Since many listeners might be listening to this episode before they catch a performance, here’s more info about the play.

“Creator and performer Adil Mansoor explores queerness, the afterlife, and obligation using canonical texts, teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations between him and his mother. Since discovering his queerness, Mansoor’s mother has turned towards her faith in an attempt to save her son in the afterlife. In an effort towards healing, Mansoor has invited his mother to join him as dramaturg and co-conspirator. In reading, discussing, and translating various adaptations of the source play, together they mine Greek tragedy, Islamic traditions, and their own memories to create an original performance locating love across faith.”

Hope you enjoy this thoughtful and fun conversation!

Bonus: We’ve introduced a lightning round of questions at the end of the episode. Favorite sandwich? Toilet paper up or down?

“I didn’t want anyone to be able to say that I manipulated what my mom was saying to me. I needed it to be completely and fully her voice. And I think the way we pause before we say something tells us a lot about intention.”

Amm(i)gone plays at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC from April 20, 2024 - May 12, 2024 and at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT from May 28 - June 23, 2024. Find more information here.

Photographs by Kitoko Chargois.

About Why We Collect

Why We Collect presents thoughtful conversations about the objects we keep—and create.

With the help of people who spend an inordinate amount of time managing objects and reflecting on their meanings—from collectors to curators, artists to archivists, and enthusiasts to entrepreneurs—we try to make sense of our messy material world.

Why We Collect is co-produced and co-hosted by Katherine Barbera and David Bernabo of Bright Archives, an independent archival production house.

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