Noura Celebrates New York Premiere at Playwrights Horizons

The New York premiere of Heather Raffo's Noura celebrated opening night on Monday, December 10, at Playwrights Horizons. Directed by Joanna Settle, the production is set to run through December 30.

Featured in the cast are Raffo herself as Noura, Dahlia Azama (Veil'd) as Maryam, Liam Campora (The Blacklist) as Yazen/Alex, Matthew David (A Streetcar Named Desire) as Rafa'a, and Nabil Elouahabi (Oslo) as Tareq/Tim. The creative team includes Andrew Lieberman (scenic design), Tilly Grimes (costume design), Masha Tsimring (lighting design), and Obadiah Eaves (sound design). Laura Smith is the production stage manager.

The play is described as follows: "Noura is set in the home of its titular character, a former architect from Mosul. She and her husband now have a successful life in New York, and, eight years after having fled their home in Iraq, they've finally gained citizen status — which Noura, as an Iraqi Christian, is celebrating by planning the perfect Christmas dinner. But when the arrival of a visitor stirs up long-buried memories, Noura and her husband are forced to confront the cost of their choices, and retrace the past they left behind. With compassion and startling clarity, Raffo's play considers a woman's options across two nations, and exposes the fragility of the structures — nationalities, marriages, mores — in which we consider ourselves at home."