The Power of Transformation in Denmo Ibrahim's BABA: A One Woman Show Journey into Family, Faith and Freedom

This paper tackles Denmo Ibrahim's play BABA (2011) as an example of a one- woman show that exemplifies the power of transformation of the body on stage. Ibrahim, an Egyptian American dramatist, has chosen to come closer to her life and rely on something real to draw from; hence she wrote and performed her solo performance BABA. This play covers thirty years and two continents and tells the story of both love and forgiveness between a daughter and the memory of her estranged Egyptian immigrant father who failed to adjust to the New York City life. The play includes a series of monologues, in which each character takes the stage. The study of the performance will emphasize how relying on the power of her body, Ibrahim literally transforms herself into the immigrant Egyptian father and manages to present a play about men and women struggling between identity and tradition in America, a weaving of the personal and the communal. Skillfully, she slips in and out of each character, and as she personifies her father's last decisive moments in the U.S. waiting for a passport, Ibrahim becomes more understanding and ultimately realizes why kidnapping his child was the only solution left. Thus, she has decided to create a show for her father and about him. She wanted to be in his shoes, and understand him from the inside. The analysis will show how studying men raised in the Middle East of different sizes and ages, learning their accent, tone and language, and conducting interviews of women who immigrated to the USA and the difficulties they faced, Ibrahim skillfully succeeds to perform a comedy about a very sad time for a hard working man who has long resisted and bitterly failed at the American Dream.