July 10, 2005

Written by Mrinalini Kamath
Directed by Anish Jethmalani

Celestial Motions tells the story of what happens when Leela’s parents, who immigrated to the US from India, are forced to confront a big mistake—they had forgotten to take daylight savings time into account when they had Leela’s Hindu astrological chart drawn at her birth. Accordingly, they have the chart redrawn and the startling prediction sets the 25-year old woman on a journey of arranged dating and cyber romance as her parents desperately try to preserve their family’s identity. Little do they realize that Leela’s destiny is closer than either they or Leela can imagine. An intercultural romantic comedy.

May 15, 2005

Written by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Stuart Carden

See the Fawzis, an Egyptian immigrant family struggling to find their place within American society. Marvel as they painstakingly navigate inter-generational conflict, their Islamic faith, and the values of two cultures. East meets West meets mayhem in this Muslim American family comedy evoking universal themes of faith, culture, belonging, and desire. Ten Acrobats adds a brand new chapter to the American immigrant narrative as captured on stage.

May 6, 2005

Written by Velina Hasu Houston
Directed by Patrizia Acerra

In Calling Aphrodite, the exquisite and distinctive Keiko Kimura’s life is critically altered when war arrives in Japan. Standing at ground zero in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb falls, she is horribly disfigured. An American philanthropist engages a New York surgeon to take on the case of Keiko and other women scarred in the bombing—“the Hiroshima Maidens” of legend. As Keiko’s crisis crosses borders, her life becomes a quest for enlightenment, restoring her faith in humanity’s integrity and grace.

Performed as part of Woman Warrior Festival 2005

March 19, 2005

Written by Rana Kazkaz
Directed by Andrea Klunder

Gibran chronicles the epic and turbulent life of renowned artist-poet Khalil Gibran, from his poverty-stricken boyhood in Ottoman-controlled Lebanon to his adult travels as an artist in Cairo, Paris, Boston and New York City in the early 1900s. Although born with a broken heart and a tortured soul, Gibran struggles to deliver his message to the world: We are all infinitely more than we think and all we can do is find out how much we are. In the end this dream, combined with the tragic and breathtaking events of his life, compels him to write The Prophet, a book that is now the second-best-selling book in American history.

February 13, 2005

Written by Chay Yew
Directed by Julieanne Ehre

What happened to the women of the Japanese American internment? How did these brave women keep hope in the American dream alive? Based on transcripts, documents, personal testimonies, and interviews with Japanese American female internees, Chay Yew’s Question 27, Question 28 is both heart-wrenching and inspiring, weaving together stories of the struggles, resilience and courage of Japanese American female detainees held in the American internment camps during World War II.

Performed as part of the Day of Remembrance

January 30, 2005

Written by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Anna C. Bahow

Two government officials pay an Arab American man, Khalid, a seemingly innocuous visit. What begins as a “friendly” inquiry soon devolves into a chilling, full-blown investigation of Khalid’s presumed ties to terrorists. Alternating between the surreal and comic, Back of the Throat examines the way in which facts, evidence and (mis)perceptions are used to distort the truth and how notions of cultural “otherness” impact the relationship between the accusers and the accused.

December 4, 2004

Written by Mohsen Yalfani
Translated from Farsi by Ahmad Houshmand
Directed by Stuart Carden

Political idealism, personal desire, and economic pragmatism all wrestle in Mohsen Yalfani’s Guest of a Few Days. Two friends, separated by divergent paths, and the woman who binds them reunite in post-revolutionary Iran. A love triangle ensues amidst painful truths and political fallout, as dreams are rekindled and ridiculed.

Performed as part of Saving Face Festival

June 15, 2004

Written by Kyle Gorden
Directed by Julieanne Ehre

The Gempei War: A Cycle of Noh Plays investigates the messy aftermath of war, as told in three classic Japanese plays. Tomoe tells the story of a female samurai, unable to forgive her master’s final betrayal. In Atsumori, a war-weary samurai is changed forever after being forced to kill a young musician. And in Ataka, a great general is brought to self-degradation by his brother’s paranoia. Long overlooked in the cannon of classic theatre, these ancient but timeless texts are given new life by a vigorous adaptation for the modern stage.

May 2, 2004

Written by Naomi Iizuka
Directed by Geoffrey Scott

In a series of 36 interlocking scenes, Naomi Iizuka’s new play explores the relationship between the imaginary and the real. Iizuka’s story unfolds into a progression of visual symbols, objects, and human relationships that reveal the power of perception. Set in the Asian art world, the story focuses on the discovery of a one-of-a-kind Japanese pillow book, a diary of a court lady, that turns the academic field of Asian antiquity upside down. As scholars, art dealers and reporters clamor over the finding, we realize that everything is not as it seems.