A series of coming-of-age stories, Chocolate in Heat chronicles the life of a young Arab-American woman, Aiesha.  The play begins with a violent hate crime and moves back in time to show the steps that led Aiesha to the place where her life would be changed forever. By the way, it’s also funny.

 

Chocolate in Heat had two sold-out off-off Broadway runs after its world premiere run at the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2001.  A production directed by Sam Gold was produced at the Tank in 2003.  It was presented at over twenty university theatres. 

 

“As an actor, Shamieh gives her women great eloquence.  In their hour, these immigrants grow large in our eyes – losses and all.”

~The New York Times

 

“Funny and poetic!”

~The New Yorker

 

“Shamieh casts a wide social net to redefine what makes an American.”

~Time Out

 

“Given life by two excellent performers...many dramatic works carry the message that, fundamentally, people are all the same. But few do it with the brevity, pointedness, and unflinching sense of completeness that Chocolate in Heat does. Chocolate in Heat is as likely to be moving in its depiction of relationships of various sorts as it is to be extremely funny.”

~Talkin’ Broadway

 

“Shamieh pushes past a simple articulation of her outsider-ness to engage in a rigorous interrogation of the ways in which barriers of class, race, gender, language, and politics intersect.”

~NY Theatre

 

“One of the best written and best acted shows in the New York International Fringe Festival!”

~Curtain Up