Pilgrims Musa And Sheri In The New World

Anyone who has ever looked for love know the dilemma. Do you make a safe, sensible match? Or take a risk on an exciting someone who might—just might—be the One Great Romance of your life? Musa, an Egyptian immigrant, and Sheri, a very quirky Caucasian waitress, must negotiate the twists and turns of not only love but cultural expectations in this charming romantic comedy with a delightful twist.

A prolific playwright in the US, Egyptian-American playwright Yussef El Guindi explores, through his dramatic work, the immigrant experience. Addressing the personal, political and social encounters of those trying to adapt to new western countries and cultures, his plays are conceived and shaped with intelligence, sensibility and humour. This collection brings together works that span his career, from his first major play, Back of the Throat, to his boldly topical Threesome, throughout which he delves into the complex issues commonly felt by Arab immigrants in the US: Arabophobia, Islamophobia, media orientalism and bi-cultural issues. The plays featured in the anthology are: Back of the Throat Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat Language Rooms Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World Threesome Packed with supplementary information that expands upon and contextualises El Guindi's work, this collection is both an excellent compendium and a resource for study. Additional material includes: an annotated timeline of the playwright's life and work; an introduction by Professor Michael Malek Najjar (University of Oregon) that draws out themes within the plays and examines El Guindi's place in American theatre in the post-9/11 era; production stills of some productions of El Guindi's work; and El Guindi's essay Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet Abdallah and Ahmed: Musings about Arabs and Muslims in American Theatre.

(Applause Acting Series). Culled from the finalists for the prestigious Steinberg/American Theatre Critics New American Play Award from the years 2008-2012, Scenes and Monologues from Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Finalists, 2008-2012 presents some of the finest, sharpest, and most immediate scenes and monologues from contemporary American drama. The book is divided into male-female, male-male, female-female scenes as well as male and female monologues and multiple character scenes. Actors, teachers, students of drama, as well as theater lovers will be thrilled by entries from such recent hits as Time Stands Still , Superior Donuts , Detroit , Water by the Spoonful , and Dead Man's Cell Phone , as well as material from such lesser known-but soon to be widely celebrated plays as 9 Circles , Becky's New Car , Perfect Mendacity , Splinters , and On the Spectrum . All are superbly constructed dramas told with ferocity, passion, wit, and supreme insight. Collectively, these scripts by our most promising and creative playwrights including Sarah Ruhl, Tracy Letts, Lee Blessing, Rebecca Gilman, Donald Margulies, Naomi Iizuka, Bill Cain, Rinne Groff, Quaira Alegria Hudes, and Yussef El Guindi reflect a collective vision of today's America that is startling in its ability to reveal the pressing circumstances and realities, the diverse characters and conflicts, and the "forms and pressures" of our emerging millennial era.

(Applause Books). In this anthology, theater expert Roger Ellis culls together dramatic scenes and monologues that all deal with spiritual experience. From various religious and non-religious perspectives, the book explores various aspects of spirituality religious faith, martyrdom, death and afterlife, fate and destiny, mercy, and romantic love. The material comes from contemporary plays by some of the most gifted playwrights Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, John Patrick Shanley, John Pielmeier, Tammy Ryan, Elie, Wiesel, Karen Sunde, and others. Perfect for high-school through college-age students, as well as for actors and general readers, this volume contains nearly 100 scenes, ranging from comic to serious, grouped in five categories: "Scenes for a Man and a Woman," "Scenes for Two Women," "Scenes for Two Men," "Monologues for Women," and "Monologues for Men." In addition to the monologues, Ellis includes notes on staging to help actors and directors bring these scenes to life. Some of the plays sourced for this anthology include The Crucible , Doubt , In the Shape of a Woman , Agnes of God , Epic Proportions , Our Lady of 121st Street , Angels in America , and Affection in Time .

Beginning with early Arab American playwright, poet and novelist Kahlil Gibran and concluding with contemporary playwright Yussef El Guindi, this book provides an historical overview and critical analysis of the plays, films and performances of self-identified Arab Americans. Playwrights, filmmakers and performers covered include Ameen Fares Rihani, Danny Thomas, Heather Raffo, Ahmed Ahmed, Mona Mansour and Cherien Dabis. These artists, traditionally underrepresented in entertainment, publishing and academia, have created works that exemplify the burgeoning Arab American arts movement. By addressing cinema, stand-up comedy and solo performance, the author introduces audiences to contemporary genres that are shaping Arab American culture in the United States.

Middle Eastern American Theatre explores the burgeoning Middle Eastern American theatre movement with a focus on Arab American, Jewish American, Armenian American, Iranian American, and Turkish American theatres, playwrights, directors, and actors. By exploring the rich religious and cultural heritage of this diverse group - which includes Arabs, Armenians, Iranians, Jews, and Turks - and religions that include the Baha'i faith, Christianity, Chaldean, Druze, Ishik Alevism, Judaism, Islam, Mandaeism, Samaratin, Shabakism, Yazidi, and Zoroastrianism - the rich and paradoxical nature of the term 'Middle Eastern' is interrogated through the dramas written and performed by those in the Diaspora. Featuring a clear introduction and examination of the context and the various push and pull factors that have contributed to the mass migrations to North America - including the so-called “Great Migration” of 1890-1915, the Armenian Genocide, the European Holocaust, the two world wars, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and other social and political conflicts. With chapters devoted to Arab American, Israeli American, Iranian American and Turkish American theatre, Middle Eastern American Theatre traces the history and examines the work of key artists and directors including Heather Raffo, Yussef El Guindi, Jamil Khoury, Mona Mansour, Danny Bryck, Ken Kaissar, Ari Roth, Torange Yeghiazarian, Reza Abdoh, Sedef Ecer, Torange Yeghiazarian, of Golden Thread Productions, and Jamil Khoury, of Silk Road Rising. The volume provides readers with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of millions of Middle Eastern Americans, and how they have contributed to American theatre today.

Casting a Movement brings together US-based actors, directors, educators, playwrights, and scholars to explore the cultural politics of casting. Drawing on the notion of a "welcome table"—a space where artists of all backgrounds can come together as equals to create theatre—the book’s contributors discuss casting practices as they relate to varying communities and contexts, including Middle Eastern American theatre, Disability culture, multilingual performance, Native American theatre, color- and culturally-conscious casting, and casting as a means to dismantle stereotypes. Syler and Banks suggest that casting is a way to invite more people to the table so that the full breadth of US identities can be reflected onstage, and that casting is inherently a political act; because an actor’s embodied presence both communicates a dramatic narrative and evokes cultural assumptions associated with appearance, skin color, gender, sexuality, and ability, casting choices are never neutral. By bringing together a variety of artistic perspectives to discuss common goals and particular concerns related to casting, this volume features the insights and experiences of a broad range of practitioners and experts across the field. As a resource-driven text suitable for both practitioners and academics, Casting a Movement seeks to frame and mobilize a social movement focused on casting, access, and representation. Chapter 2 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book studies the creative works of Ayad Akhtar in the context of a post-9/11 American culture rife with the racialization of Muslims. It explores controversies emerging from the reception of Akhtar’s works and focuses on their aesthetic dimensions to study their role in advocating for racial and gender equity.