APAC launches 17th season
with world premiere of ‘Veil’d’
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
The Astoria Performing Arts Center
(APAC) is kicking off its 17th season with
the world premiere of “Veil’d,” a play
that explores identity and how we see
and represent ourselves among diverse
people.
The play, which is directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh,
runs from Nov. 2 to 18 at the Good Shepherd United
Methodist Church, located at 30-44 Crescent St. (at 30th
Road), Astoria. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays
at 8 p.m., and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for students and senior
citizens. Tickets can be purchased online at www.apacny.org or
in person at the box office an hour prior to each performance.
The play follows Dima, a 16-year-old girl with a rare skin condition
who recently moved from Afghanistan to New York with her family.
As she spends most of her time hiding out in her room, her
parents fear that she’ll never have the “normal” American teenage
experience that they hoped she’d have. Little do they know that
Dima is getting by with some help from her secret friends — Elliot,
a poet who hangs out under her window hawking rhymes, and
Speedo, a talking nurse shark who saves the day in more ways than
one. But will Dima have her happy ending?
Monet Hurst-Mendoza, the playwright, originally wrote “Veil’d”
while she was in college. She found that in writing this play, she is
able to subvert the status quo and reveal the truth in universality,
allowing the play to spark change.
“As the daughter of an immigrant, my childhood was similar
to Dima’s — a combination of my father’s Yucatecan roots and
my mother’s American life. That combination had a profound
influence on me,” said Hurst-Mendoza. “As a result, I explore how
race, culture and gender expectations influence family dynamics
in my plays, particularly for young people as they ‘come of age.'”
Nikhaar Kishnani, who plays Dima, was excited to take on
the role, especially since her character never feels the need to
comment on her race. When asked about if she learned anything
about herself or how she portrays herself to the world in her
character, Kishnani responded:
“I wish I could say I see myself in one way, but like most
brown girls in my generation, I code-switch,” Kishnani said.
“This modified quote from Selena (the best movie ever) has the
best answer I can give you: ‘We gotta be more brown than the
brown people and more American than the Americans. Both at
the same time. It’s exhausting!'”
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Sahar Bibiyan, who plays Dima’s mother Rhami Mansour, was
able to connect to the relationship that her character has with
Dima.
“I connect to the unconditional love of her child, Dima,”
Bibiyan said. “To being an immigrant and leaving behind your
home in order to be safe. Wanting a better life for your family
despite the cost of a strange new world. Sacrificing your own
needs for your family. Trying to fit in and find who you are in
two different cultures — as an immigrant myself, I’ve experienced
being an outcast and misunderstood.”
Bibiyan also wants the audience to take away that we are all
Dima, in some form or another.
“We all have things we veil, cover, bury and have to overcome,”
Bibiyan said. “We also have the same desires no matter where
we are from. We have more in common than we think. And being
different is beautiful.”
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
Image courtesy of the Astoria Performing Arts Center
