Valerie David Brings “Baggage From BaghDAD” to Cannonball Festival Stage

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The solo show will be a part of Philly Fringe on September 17, 19 and 20.

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NYC-based actress Valerie David is making her comeback from cancer, beating the odds, to make a return to the stage to perform her award-winning solo show, Baggage From BaghDAD: Becoming My Father's Daughter, in September's Cannonball Festival in Philly.

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A broken nose from tripping over a piece of equipment at her local gym saved her life when a brain tumor was discovered. Her meningioma tumor, thought to have been benign, actually also revealed metastatic breast cancer when it was surgically removed earlier this year. It was both benign and malignant-a rare occurrence that two different tumors fused together. Subsequent radiation treatment followed, and she now has no evidence of disease.

Valerie is thrilled that her first time back onstage is at the Cannonball Festival, only 7 1/2 months after her surgery and completing treatment. She is a 27-year cancer survivor and has now conquered cancer for the fourth time. Baggage From BaghDAD, is a story of hope and resilience.

The solo show mirrors today's growing intolerance of race and religion, written and performed by Valerie David. Due to religious persecution during the 1941 Farhud pogrom, Valerie's paternal Middle Eastern Jewish family was forced to flee Iraq and build a new home in America. This play highlights her family's struggle to immigrate to a new land and transcend their harrowing past, so that love and the importance of family triumph.

Valerie states, 'It's not just a Jewish story, but a narrative that anyone can relate to: having to immigrate to another country, being forced to evacuate during wartime, suffering bullying, and the ramifications of having to adapt to a foreign culture that's not so welcoming.'

Directed by Drama Desk award-winning director Karen Carpenter with Sound and Projections by award-winning designer Andy Evan Cohen .

Performances will take place: Thursday, September 17 @ 7:15 pm, Saturday, September 19 @ 3:45 pm and Sunday, September 20 @ 4:30 pm at the Asian Arts Initiative Third Floor located at 1219 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19107. Runtime: 60 minutes. Mature content. Ticket are $25 or pay-what-you-can

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/philadelphia/article/BAGGAGE-FROM-BAGHDAD-To-Take-The-Stage-At-The-Cannonball-Festival-20260913)._