According to press notes, "Noor Theatre’s leadership grappled with how to engage artistically and meaningfully with the world around them. Their programming is a direct response to these questions – questions that they look to their community of artists and audience to help answer."
Noor Theatre is dedicated to supporting, developing and producing the work of theatre artists of Middle-Eastern descent and is a Company-in-Residence at New York Theatre Workshop.
The season announcement follows:
Fifth Annual Highlight Reading Series:
All will take place at New York Theatre Workshop's Rehearsal Studio (83 E. 4th Street)
Seating is limited; reservations are suggested. To reserve, email [email protected].
* Threesome
By Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Johanna McKeon
Sept. 15
"Leila and Rashid attempt to solve their relationship issues by inviting a relative stranger into their bedroom. What begins as a hilariously awkward evening soon becomes an experience fraught with secrets and tension, raising issues of sexism, possession, and independence."
Featuring Arison, Lameece Issaq (Food and Fadwa, Stuff Happens) and Erik Jensen (Disgraced, “The Americans”).
*
What Happened to Noura?
by "Nine Courageous Women at Queens College" (as yet anonymous) and edited by Heather Raffo
Directed by Maha Chehlaoui
Oct. 7
"When Noura reveals her true feelings about her faith, her family and girl friends are suddenly thrust into vivid relief. One woman's truth opens the door for another, until even the most haunting of cultural taboos demands to be given a voice. Created out of theatrical writing workshop Raffo conducted at Queens College, this play is a startling and frank look at the life altering journeys these young Middle Eastern women have taken, and the bravery it takes to talk about them. And most importantly, it lets them tell us in their own words."
*
Vagrant
by Mona Mansour
Directed by Mark Wing-Davey
Nov. 18
"Set in London in 1982, this is part three of a trilogy. As Arab émigré Adham faces his last hurdle to secure a coveted permanent position at university, a wave of "domestic terrorism" hits his chosen city, while at the same time, the family he left behind in Palestine faces their own escalating horrors. The life Adham has created threatens to unravel, destroying the political and personal equilibrium he's spent 15 years perfecting."
Commissioned by the Public Theater.
*
American Dreams and Arabian Nights
by Leila Buck
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Dec. 9
"Sheherezade (Sherry to her friends), comes home for the holidays from the Holy Land with big plans: have a baby; introduce its father, Jihad, to her family; get him a green card; and record the process for their unborn child. But when her grandmother’s mind begins to deteriorate - and Sherry learns that Jihad has been detained at the border - the lines between here and there, past and present, reality and dreams become blurred. An exploration of how we draw the lines between us, and what happens when we choose to cross them."
*
The spring of 2015 at Noor Theatre will feature The 48-Hour Forum, where the company will gather, "some of Noor’s favorite New York artists in a room and ask them to make a play in 48 hours out of the news of the day," as well as The Myth Project 2.0 with dates and casting to be announced later.
For more information visit noortheatre.org.
