“We try to support artists we believe in and connect to, and help nurture wonderful work by staying focused on the relationships rather than dictating the end product,” says Artistic Director, James Nicola. As a Company-in-Residence at NYTW and co-producer, we at Noor Theatre are proud to share our first play with this supportive and brave company and to be part of this stellar group of artists.


Save The Date: Benefit Performance Sat. June 9th
Join us for a special performance of Food and Fadwa followed by a buffet reception with the cast and creative team. Get exclusive access to the rehearsal studio where the play came to life. Your support and attendance will help Noor Theatre continue beyond Food and Fadwa. Tickets are very limited — guarantee your spot by purchasing now.

$150 – 8:00pm Performance of Food and Fadwa and Reception
$100 – 8:00pm Performance only

There are also opportunities for individual and corporate sponsorship. Contact us for more information.

Purchase Tickets Here or call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006 ext. 1

Behind the Scenes: Playwrights on Food as Muse
Watch co-authors Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader talk about how they use food as the common thread in their new play Food and Fadwa. Click here, or the image below.

Bought your Food and Fadwa Preview Tickets Yet?
Advance and Discount Tickets are still available:

Noor Theatre Blazes New Light: Food and Fadwa at NYTW

How often do you hear of a dream come true from an open call to “be the next Food Network Star!”? It’s like winning the lottery. Or Arab Idol. Writer/performer Lameece Issaq didn’t get her cooking show optioned, but it was while shooting her submission tape with filmmaker Jacob Kader that a new sketch character, 30-something Palestinian Fadwa, was born. Who could have predicted that Fadwa’s mock culinary routine would lead to a world premiere at the renowned New York Theatre Workshop and the birth of a dynamic new Middle Eastern theater company for New York City artists?

Food and Fadwa, written by Issaq and Kader, directed by Shana Gold, starts previews May 18 on the NYTW main stage as the inaugural full-scale production of Noor Theatre in collaboration with the Workshop. A brilliant balance of dark and light, the play centers on the unmarried Fadwa, who hosts an imaginary cooking show as she prepares a feast for her younger sister’s wedding. True to any family on the cusp of such a major event, tensions both serious and absurd abound. If it weren’t set in modern day Bethlehem, it would be My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets My Best Friend’s Wedding. But roll in the backdrop of the West Bank, and a tragedy of ancient proportions unfolds.

Fadwa (played by Noor Artistic Director and co-writer Lameece Issaq) has sacrificed her own pursuits to stay in Bethlehem and care for Baba, her mentally ailing, thoroughly endearing father. Baba becomes an integral character in Fadwa’s cooking show; in her imagination, he waxes philosophical about the food she cooks and its significance to their family’s roots. He is kind, wise, and vulnerable. Fadwa’s younger sister Dalal (played by Noor Executive Director Maha Chehlaoui) is his most practical caregiver, but after her wedding she will move to New York City to attend Columbia University.

Complex back-story is gently kneaded into the mix as the story develops, and the drama that stems from events in the past now coming to a head is raw and powerful. Who should return for the wedding, all the way from New York, but Fadwa’s former fiancé Yousiff, brother of the groom. Much time has passed, but the connection between Yousiff and Fadwa is riveting, and the sensuality of her cooking says everything she can’t.

Read the Full Article Here.

By Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader
Directed by Shana Gold
Previews begin May 18th, Opens June 7th

Meet Fadwa Faranesh, an unmarried, 30-something Palestinian woman living in Bethlehem in the politically volatile West Bank. Known for her delectable cooking and deep-seated sense of duty to her family and aging father, our kitchen maven insists on continuing the preparations for the wedding of her younger sister, despite constraints of daily life under occupation. Politics blend with family tensions to create a sometimes humorous and sometimes heartbreaking meal. Story by Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader and directed by Shana Gold, this new play melds the fight a Palestinian family wages to hold onto its traditional culture with its need to celebrate love, joy and hope.

Noor Theatre teams up with New York Theatre Workshop to bring you FOOD AND FADWA.

Runs May 18th-June 24th, at NYTW, 79 East. 4th Street, New York, NY.

by Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader

Followed by a Buffet Reception with the Cast and Creative Team In support of the continued growth and development of

Saturday June 9th at 8 PM
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street, New York, NY
Tickets for Performance Reception – $150
a portion of your ticket price is tax deductible*

To buy your tickets call 1-800-838-3006 ext. 1
or click here

Sponsorship and Underwriting Opportunities are available.
Please contact Nancy Vitale, Producing Artistic Director at benefit@noortheatre.org

*Noor Theatre is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization as determined by the Internal Revenue Service. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. A receipt acknowledging your contribution and exemption eligibility will be provided.

A hearty thank you to all of the artists and audience members who came out to the Center For Architecture last Friday night for Building ANew. One of the most exciting projects Noor has yet produced, we were proud to showcase our first ever newly commissioned pieces from some of our community’s most exciting voices. Mix in a fantastic cast, crew, director, and audience, and voilà! A terrific, edifying night of theater. We’re so proud.

Get Tickets to Food and Fadwa Early!

For a short time, friends of Noor Theatre get to snag discount tickets to Food and Fadwa. Tickets don’t go on sale until April, so be the first to access tickets at these great prices!

May 18 – 20 – $25 per ticket

May 22 – 27 – $35 per ticket

May 29 – June 24 – $50 per ticket

To purchase tickets, call 212-279-4200 or visit www.ticketcentral.com and use the code FRIENDOFFADWA. Purchase by June 6 and save!

Got a big group? Make a night out of it. Check out these group rates:

Groups 10-100: $50 per ticket

Groups over 100: $42 per ticket

Student Groups 10 or more: $25 per ticket

(Rates are good for any performance May 18-June 6)

OR

Bring a group to any performance May 18-27: $25 per ticket

For group tickets, contact Stephanie Warren at 212-780-9037 or groups@nytw.org. No handling fee for group sales!

From Our Friends

The Hour of Feeling

By Mona Mansour

Directed by Mark Wing-Davey

Featuring Rasha Zamamiri, Hadi Tabbal and more

Actors Theatre of Louisville

Humana Festival

March 6-April 1

Click here for tickets.

Another Life

Written and Directed by Karen Malpede

Featuring George Bartinieff,

Abbas Noori Abboud and more

Presented by Theater Three Collaborative

Irondale Theater Center

85 South Oxford, Brooklyn

March 8-25

Click here for tickets.

Submission Guidelines:
· We are accepting plays previously unproduced in New York City;

· Only one submission per writer;

· We are interested the various perspectives of writers of Middle-Eastern descent, whether the plays are Middle-Eastern themed or otherwise.

· Please include the following with each submission: a bio and/or resume, production or development history if applicable; for non-agent submissions, a letter of recommendation from a theatre professional.

The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2012. In an effort to be ecologically responsible, Noor Theatre accepts scripts with all materials in one email to submissions@noortheatre.org. Scripts with all attachments may also be mailed to the address below; please note, they will not be returned:

Winter hasn’t gotten us down here at Noor. We’re keeping toasty by prepping for our upcoming production of Food and Fadwa–and we’ve got some other logs on the fire too. Check it out.

Noor + The Center for Architecture

March 16th: Building ANew. In conjunction with The Center for Architecture’s exhibitions of mid-century Baghdad and contemporary Middle Eastern architecture this spring, Noor has commissioned original work from some of our community’s most exciting playwrights, such as Ismail Khalidi, Najla Said, and Daria Polatin. Don’t miss the reading of these new short plays in a program called Building ANew.

a monthly reading series

7:30 PM
Monday, December 5th
The 4th Street Theatre
Space Limited: Reservations Suggested
Email: RSVP@Noortheatre.org

Baba

written and performed by Denmo Ibrahim

directed by Isis Saratial Misdary

We are excited to present Baba, a wildly unexpected story of love and forgiveness between a daughter and the memory of her estranged Egyptian father. As she embodies his last crucial moments in the U.S. waiting for a passport, she realizes – through literally being in his shoes – why kidnapping his child was the only solution left. Hailed by nytheatre.com as “stunning and revelatory,” Baba and this exciting new artist are not to be missed!

Denmo Ibrahim

Ms. Ibrahim is an actor, playwright and theatre-maker based in San Francisco. She has performed for A.C.T, Aurora Theatre, Huntington Theatre and the Vineyard Playhouse among others; she has been nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award and Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Lead Actress. Ms. Ibrahim’s work was selected by the Lark, Silk Road, and Golden Thread as an Honoree for the Middle East Initiative Award; original commissions include work for Golden Thread, Theatre of Yugen, foolsFURY, Shotgun Players, Root Division, 111 Minna Gallery, EXIT Theatre, Bebersee Classical Music Festival (Germany) and Loire Valley Festival (France). Ms. Ibrahim is a graduate of Boston University’s Acting Program, Internazionale Stage in Italy, and holds a M.F.A. in Lecoq-Based: Actor Created Physical Theatre from Naropa University.

Admission is free, donations are welcome

To Reserve: email us at RSVP@noortheatre.org

Directions: New York Theatre Workshop’s 3rd Floor Studio is located at 83 E. 4th Street in the NYTW admin building, between 2nd Ave and Bowery in New York City.

Please join us for light refreshments afterwards, generously provided by our sponsors:

*Chateau Musar Wine Generously Donated by Broadbent Selections

If your business would like to sponsor HIGHLIGHT, or any of our upcoming programming, contact us at info@noortheatre.org.

*Noor Theatre is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization as determined by the Internal Revenue Service. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. A statement of receipt acknowledging your contribution and exemption eligibility will be sent to you by mail.