RAGHS, About Iranian Girl's Journey to Womanhood, to Play MITF

Midtown International Theater Festival will present Raghs, a one-woman play written by Sohailla Mahjour and developed and directed by Pati Amoroso.

Raghs, which means "dance" in Farsi, is the story of a young Iranian-American girl who falls in love with an older Iranian cousin. Throughout a series of heartbreaking losses, this naive love carries her from adolescent innocence to womanhood.

"Given our circumstances right now, politically, this story must be brought to as many communities as possible," say Mahjour and Amoroso. "Middle Easterners and Americans must talk to each other. They must discuss simple things, like falling in love because they all share that emotion. By feeling empathy for the characters in this play, the audience member will be feeling empathy for Middle Easterners everywhere. That is how we believe we can join hands in fighting the segregation that is going on."

ABOUT THE CAST:

Pati Amoroso is a Brazilian director who first stepped foot into the art world as an actress. At a very young age, she worked under the spotlight in many shoes including Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia!, Chanel in Bark! the Musical and Kayla in the Shady Pines pilot (HIFF).

An NYU alumnus with a vast training in Speech, Method, Fátima Toledo, and Practical Aesthetics, Pati Amoroso was quickly snatched as a director of many original plays. As a huge supporter of women in arts, she proudly directed Mary V, My Life as Morgan, They'll Be Callin' Us Witches - to name a few - ALL abundant with strong female characters and ALL written by female playwrights.

As a developer of Raghs, Pati was passionate about steering the hero's journey into painful paths but never relinquishing opportunities to add humor on every page.

Sohailla Mahjour is an actress, writer and producer with a BFA from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She found her niche for storytelling as a child reenacting Disney movies and imitating her charming Iranian father. Sohailla admires original works of art and has spent her last two years acting, writing, stage managing and producing unique stories for theater and film. Recently she Stage Managed Mary V (Theater For The New City) and Don't Be Callin' Us Witches (Radioactive Festival). She has toured Raghs at several venues in NYC (Joes's Pub at the Public) and California (Azad's Martial Arts). Sohailla is thrilled to perform Raghs in its 3rd festival this year.

Entering its 17th year, Midtown International Theater Festival is dedicated to nurture theater in New York City and beyond. Three times a year (Spring, Summer, and Fall), MTIF offers a safe environment to create and develop unique and innovative theatre that utilizes imaginative, low-tech staging. Learn more about the festival at www.midtownfestival.org.

Raghs will be presented July 18th at 7:00pm, July 22nd at 7:00pm, and July 23rd at 5:30pm at the Jewel Box Theater, 312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at https://m.ovationtix.com/pr/975027.