Noor Theatre Announces 2017-18 Season

Noor Theatre is gearing up for its 2017-2018 season. As the barrage of issues affecting Middle Eastern communities across the globe grows, this unique company continues to create a dialogue between their artists and audiences and shed light on these varied and complex perspectives.

This fall, we kick off our 8th season of the Highlight Reading Series, which features four playwrights of Middle Eastern descent. The series begins on Tuesday, September 26th with a reading of Wooden Boxes by Houssein Almoreey (Rain and Wind's Play), directed by Kate Moore Heaney (LOU).

On Tuesday, October 10th, the series continues with 330 Pegasus by Melis Aker ( Manar), directed by Kim Kerfoot (Co - Founder of Instant Arts Collective).

Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury (Against the Hillside), directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch (The Last Match) will be presented on Tuesday, November 14th.

The final reading of the series on Tuesday, December 13th is You, The Fire, and Me by Sevan K. Greene (Forgotten Bread), directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskand ar (Sojourners and Her Portmanteau).

All Highlight readings will take place in New York Theatre Workshop's 3rd Floor Rehearsal Studio (83 East 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003) at 7:30pm. Audience members are invited to stay for refreshments after each reading. Seating is limited ; reservations are strongly suggested. RSVP @ noortheatre.org.

In December, we will present a staged reading of Noor's first full - length play commission Dead Are My People by Ismail Khalidi (Tennis In Nablus) at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The play, which includes music by Hadi Eldebek, follows Nicola, who flees the famine - stricken mountains of Lebanon for the U.S. during WWI. Once there, he hopes to track down his uncle Tanios who emigrated years before. Finding few traces of Tanios, besides his peddler cart, and conflicting information of townspeople, Nicola must ultimately navigate the treacherous terrain of the Jim Crow South.

In the spring, the 4th Annual 48 Hour Forum will gather 30 artists from diverse backgrounds to create a night of plays based on current events, capping off the year. As New York's only theatre representing voices of the Middle Eastern diaspora, Noor is often asked to respond to the barrage of news coming out of the Middle East and beyond. Often, news breaks and it is several years before we see something on stage about it. This h eadline - inspired festival remedies that by bringing together five playwrights, five directors, and twenty actors to create five short plays in just 48 - hours based on the news of the day. This year's line - up will include playwrights Amina Henry (Ducklings), Michele Lowe (Inana), and Melisa Tien (Yellow Card Red Card).

Noor Theatre's work is made possible with support from the New York State Council for the Arts, MAP Fund, the Ford Foundation.