To register for all or any of the events, call (212) 817-8215 or email continuinged@gc.cuny.edu with the information listed on this form. Or click for all of our registration options.

Playing with the Rules: Arab American Female Writers/Performers Series

Join us for a series of evenings exploring the performances and theatre work of Arab American
Theatre artists. Five Arab American women will present four evenings, each expressing their
unique views on current events, the war, and the experience of growing up Arab in America. This series is curated by Dalia Basiouny.

Dalia Basiouny, Ph.D. Candidate in Theatre, GC-CUNY is writing her dissertation on Arab
American women playwrights after 9/11. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Arts grant.

I. Elmaz Abi Nader, Under the Ramadan Moon and 32 Mohameds
Thursday, March 3rd, 7pm; Free

Lebanese American poet and performer Elmaz Abi Nader has been an influential voice in American literature for almost two decades. Her work resonates with the complications of the history of America and its relationship to other cultures and to itself. She will perform parts from her performance pieces Under the Ramadan Moon and 32 Mohameds, which relate her experience of “being Arab here, being American there.”

II. Heather Raffo, Nine Parts of Desire
Monday, March 7th, 6:30pm; Free

Iraqi American playwright and actress Heather Raffo has scored a big hit off-Broadway with Nine Parts of Desire, a one-woman play portraying a cross-section of Iraqi women. One of the few New York theatre successes this year, the play has garnered rave reviews and has been extended three times since it opened in October. Heather Raffo will perform a section of the play based on interviews she conducted over the last decade with Iraqi women in Iraq and in exile. Ms. Raffo intertwines the stories of these women in an exquisite solo performance sure to rivet, shock, and inspire.

III. Betty Shamieh, Chocolate in Heat: Growing up Arab in America
Monday, April 4th, 6:30pm; Free

Palestinian American playwright and performer Betty Shamieh is author of this award-winning
play, which combines dance, music, and monologue to create a meditation on growing up Arab and American that is fresh, funny, and moving.

IV. Rania Khalil, The Rania Khalil Show, and Suha Al Jurf, Pressing Beyond in Between
Monday, May 16 6:30pm; Free

Egyptian American poet and performance artist Rania Khalil will present part of The Rania
Khalil Show; her mime performance Flag Piece shows the complicated relationship between a
Muslim woman and the American flag, which she feels acts as a veil to silence her. Palestinian American actor and playwright Suha Al Jurf will perform Pressing Beyond in Between, which premiered in Ramallah, Palestine. Pressing Beyond explores the journey of an American-born Palestinian woman who returns home to connect with her roots.



Maybe the truest thing to be said about racism is that it represents a profound failure of the imagination.
--Henry Louis Gates, Jr.