This winter, Noor presents the sixth season of Highlight, a reading series for playwrights of Middle Eastern descent. The series kicked off in September with a reading of Amer Hlehel's Taha, which was featured at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab this past summer. The play is based on the story of the celebrated Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali.
Highlights continues Oct. 12 with Nahda: Five Visions of an Arab Awakening by Sevan K. Greene and directed by Johanna McKeon. The collection of short plays explores five visions of Middle Eastern identities in the Western world. The work explores "the confusion of second generation children of refugees; the struggle of British-Muslim soldiers killing their cultural siblings; the consumerist obsession with cultural food fetishism; and the parental obligation of naming a child to survive post-911 America."
The cast of Nahda features Fajer Al-Kaisi, Dahlia Azama, Caleb Bark, Caitlin Cassidy, Rendah Heywood, Ethan Hova, Lameece Issaq and Rasha Zamamiri.
On Nov. 17, Noor will present Brother Gary, a dark comedy by Ramiz Monsef and directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh. Set in an old Italian monastery, the play sees two monks trying to trace the mysterious death of their fellow brother. A December play has not yet been announced.
Next Spring, Noor will bring back the 48 Hour Forum for a second year. The festival tasks a group of actors, playwrights and directors with the job of creating short plays inspired by the day's headlines in just 48 hours. All events take place at the New York Theatre Workshop's third floor rehearsal studio, located at 83 East 4th Street, New York. Seating is limited and can be reserved by emailing [email protected]. Visit Noortheatre.org for more information.
