New Arab American Theater Works

If you like psychological thrillers; this play is for you. If you like dramatized depictions of historical events; this play is for you too. A couple rents out part of their home to new tenants after falling on hard times. At first, the arrangement seems normal, friendly even. But soon after, the tenants begin to intrude: first physically, then psychologically, then existentially. What starts as strange becomes downright claustrophobic for both the actors and the audience in a surreal moving space that slowly gets under your skin. The line between owner and occupant blurs until we no longer know whose house it really is. How will it all end?

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The boys are going for a walk. They plan to have a chill day at the lake, drinking beers, throwing frisbee, sitting around a fire, classic stuff. They need this trip, too; one of them has recently gone through a breakup, another is struggling with work, another has just announced that he can see the future. When a mysterious dead creature appears in their cooler, the trip takes a dark turn. As they continue deeper into nature and things get even stranger, the boys are forced to confront their relationships, their past, and the structure of their identities.

How to Lose a Prince in Ten Paintings is a theatrical adaptation inspired by the Palestinian folktale, Abu Jmeel’s Daughter. When Rida, a young woman who feels unseen in her own home, makes a dangerous bargain to become beautiful, she suddenly finds herself at the center of royal attention. Brought to the palace and courted by Prince Alwan, Rida must navigate a world that values her appearance more than her voice. As the kingdom projects its expectations onto her, a trio of Sisters watch from the shadows, weaving fate and mischief. Through a series of striking "paintings" Rida’s story unfolds, revealing the cost of silence and the power of being truly heard.

 After protesting a Zionist group’s “Birthright Israel Trip,” a government-funded trip to Israel for Jewish students, Aida Shalabi and her university’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter are victims of a massive smear campaign and suspended for alleged anti-semitism. But this semester, SJP returns from suspension, and Aida’s heart is set on returning somewhere bigger–-to organize the first ever Birthright Palestine trip.

Ali, an Iranian American data worker, and Betty, a Black American visual artist, are both reeling from loss when they find each other and fall in love. But can their love endure when Betty learns that Ali's ethnicity sometimes mysteriously changes?

The airspace is closed. The U.S. State Department advises Americans to draft their wills and leave immediately. In a house on the border of Iraq and Iran, a mother and her daughters are stuck in the place they come from. These three women must decide if a way out ever exists for anyone.

National and local MENA artists, community members, and arts organizers gathered in Minneapolis for an exciting meet and greet with theatrical readings by MENA theater makers. The event was a part of our 2025 MENA Theater Makers Alliance Retreat.

On the 76th anniversary of Al-Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, our community gathered for an evening of poetry by local BIPOC writers in solidarity with Palestine. 

The Gaza Monologues are testimonies written by ASHTAR youth in 2010, after the first war on the Gaza Strip. Tragically, these monologues are still accurate today. They are highlighting the horrors, hopes, and resilience of the courageous Gazans to a wider audience, bringing out the voices of children and people in Gaza.​

It is 2019 and Diyala just moved from Syria to Williamsburg, Virginia on a student visa. It is also 1619 and Agnes just married the Lord of the Virginia Company in Jamestown, who happens to be sleeping with a Native American man. Agnes and Diyala are worlds apart. Yet, something binds them. Jamestown/ Williamsburg tells the story of the voyages and traumas of two immigrant women.

Rosette follows a 16 year old Palestinian Christian woman as she is discovering her identity as a Palestinian refugee living in the city of Haifa; and as she grapples with loss of home post-1948, family separation, and gender in Palestinian society. Rosette is a coming of age story of survival, resilience and resistance. Living in Haifa with what is left of her family, Rosette is questioning her place in her family and society in a post-Nakba Palestine, and daring to dream about her future.

After protesting a Zionist group’s “Birthright Israel Trip”--a free trip to Israel for Jewish students–Aida Shalabi and her university’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter are suspended and smeared for alleged anti-semitism. But this semester, SJP returns from suspension, and now they’re seeking to return somewhere else–to organize the first ever Birthright Palestine trip. Birthright Palestine follows a group of Palestinian-American students on a quest to return to their precious homeland, against an extensive Zionist campaign to keep them away.

Conscience Café is about a Somali café owner whose indignation about Palestinian plight leads him to attempt to awaken grassroots’ awareness for their cause. But his effort is constrained by another crisis: that of his homeland Somalia and a colleague of his who thinks that his priority is misplaced as well as a world that fails to stand with the Palestinians. He is pained by the curse of collective punishment that takes place on Palestine on a regular basis, specifically housing demolitions.

Ladan follows a young Somali girl grappling with her identity and coming of age following the passage of her mother. Ladan is exploring her place in society and discovering the ways in which her mother's teachings live on.

Fatima, Layla, Farah, and Salima are living their best twenty-somethings lives in Michigan, other than all the secrets that they’re keeping from each other and their families. Secrets like: a secret girlfriend, a secret fiancé, being too conservative, being too liberal, and literally being in the closet (figuratively of course). This hilarious and heartfelt romp will leave you laughing, crying, and even praying!

Seema wakes up and doesn’t recognize anything. There are locks on the doors and there’s no way out. Where is she? Who are these strangers keeping her here? Why doesn’t she understand them? As the play unfolds we learn how Seema has become a prisoner in her own life.

There’s no stopping the commodity food fetishism of the world’s largest fast food chain. But how do you negotiate the Westernization of an identity with the feeding of the hungry?

The Hour of Separation is a three-part play exploring one family's Lebanese immigration story over the past 100 years.

The first big wave of Arab immigrants came to the Americas one hundred years ago as a result of war and famine in the Middle East. The Ottoman empire was falling, and more than 50% of the population died from starvation in Mount Lebanon (then a Syrian province), and were forced to emigrate from their lands. Many of them came to the Americas for a new life where they were seen as strange ‘others’.

What has changed in 100 years of Syrian and Lebanese immigration to America, and what has remained the same?

Zafira the Olive Oil Warrior tells the story of Arab American school teacher sent to an internment camp along with other Arab and Muslim women. The play envisions a not so far-fetched future in which Arabs and Muslims are officially enemies of the state.

Sabra Falling begins in August 1982 and Beirut is under siege. In the Sabra refugee camp the specter of a massacre looms, and the Akawi family receives an unexpected and mysterious visitor who brings the past rushing back - and alters the course of events to come.