Ty Defoe, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Mona Mansour And More Join Noor Theatre's Fifth Annual 48 Hour Forum

Playwrights Ty Defoe (Musical Theatre Factory Makers Cohort, Clouds Are Pillows for the Moon), Monet Hurst-Mendoza (Veil'd, The Kilroys), Mona Mansour (Urge for Going, The Way West), and Sanaz Toossi (Page 73 Playwriting Fellow, EST's Youngblood), and directors Misha Chowdhury (The Wolves, An Ordinary Muslim), Estefania Fadul (Scissoring, O'Neill/NNPN National Directors Fellowship), Seonjae Kim (Riot Antigone), Taylor Reynolds (Plano), and Megan Sandberg-Zakian (Nat Turner in Jerusalem) join Noor Theatre's 5th Annual 48 Hour Forum, a 48-hour play festival inspired by news events of the day.

This unique event will take place at The Lark Theatre, 311 W. 43rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenue (A,C,E to 42nd St.). Performances are Monday, May 27th at 8pm ($30) and Tuesday, May 28th at 7pm, followed by a benefit reception ($100) for this vibrant and necessary theatre company. Tickets may be purchased from www.noortheatre.org.

News is Fast. Theatre is Slow. Not this Time!

Noor Theatre is New York's only theatre representing voices of the Middle Eastern diaspora. They are often asked to respond to the barrage of news related to the Middle East and beyond. Often, news breaks and it is several years before we see something on stage about it. Such is the nature of theatre making.

In response, Noor created 48 Hour Forum, where a diverse roster of artists rise to the challenge of spinning our most talked about news events into humorous, incisive "theatrical op-eds." Five playwrights, five directors, and a company of New York's hottest actors gather over 48 hours in a race to create theater as fast as a news cycle.

Past participants include playwrights Clare Barron (Dance Nation), Marcus Gardley (The House That Will Not Stand), Keith Josef Adkins (Artistic Director of The New Black Fest), and Mona Mansour (The Way West, Labyrinth, and Whiting Award winner, 2012); director Shana Gold (Food and Fadwa Noor/New York Theatre Workshop); and actors Tala Ashe (CW's Legends of Tomorrow), Russell G. Jones (Obie winner for Ruined, Manhattan Theater Club) and Nadine Malouf (The Who and The What).

The creation of this work was made possible in part by funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.