Kawa Ada

Kawa Ada (born June 12, 1980) is an Afghan-Canadian actor, writer and producer. He distinguished himself as a stage actor on Broadway and in Toronto before pursuing a career as a film and television actor and a writer. He is also a dancer, a choreographer, a keynote speaker and a voice actor, most recently known for playing Razaq in The Breadwinner. Early life Ada was born on June 12, 1980, in Kabul, Afghanistan, in a Dari-speaking family belonging to the Pashtun aristocracy. His father was a famous national chess champion. In the midst of the Soviet–Afghan War, when Ada was but a young child, his family was forced to flee the country. They entered Pakistan as refugees, from where they emigrated to India. His sister Blanesta Ada was then born on May 17, 1983. Growing up there, Ada dreamed of becoming a Bollywood movie star. The family then illegally moved to Switzerland, where his father was arrested and detained. When Ada was 8 years old, his family finally emigrated to Canada, where they settled in Toronto. In school, he was recognized as a studious and bright kid who was very much involved in student life, and has described his high-school self as a nerd. Ada pursued his higher education in the United-States, where he graduated as valedictorian from the Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Theatre. Career After graduating from the Boston Conservatory, Ada was immediately cast on Broadway in Bombay Dreams. He then perfected his Shakespearean skills with the Publick Theatre in plays such as Troilus and Cressida. In parallel to this work, Ada came up with an original text based on his personal experiences during the Soviet invasion of his home-country, his difficult journey to relocate and integrate into Western culture and the hurdles of being an Afghan in America following the September 11 attacks. This piece, The Canny Afghani, premiered at the Boston Center for the Arts in 2004 as Ada's first one-man show. He would explain that: