The theme at the Krannert Center on Monday evening was sharing the Arab American experience.

The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH) sponsored a play by playwright Betty Shamieh aimed at countering the stereotypes some people believe about Arab Americans.

"I think that by showing them as human beings, it humanizes people whose stories never are told," Shamieh said. "I feel my job at first was to show (Arab Americans) as human beings, to show them as people who can lust, who can be ambitious, who can be mean, who can be loving."

The play, titled Chocolate in Heat: Growing Up Arab in America, is a series of interlocking scenes performed by Shamieh and Piter Fatoucche — both Arab Americans. It revolves around the life of Aiesha, a Palestinian-American girl, raised in Spanish Harlem. The scenes, titled Need, Love, Ignorance, Sex and Justice, touch on universal subjects that portray the Arab American experience as any other, Shamieh said.

The play had a sold out show on the East Coast at the 2001 New York City Fringe Festival. The play is now touring around campuses in the U.S.

Christine Catanzarite, associate director of IPRH, said the program brought the play to the University to facilitate the understanding of Arab Americans.

"(The play) seems necessary now in light of the events of the past couple of years, where we really have begun to consider the implications of what it means to grow up Arab in America and the experiences that Arabs in America have had over the past couple of years," Catanzarite said.

University English professor Zohreh Sullivan said the play voices a different perspective on ethnic issues in the United States.

"(The play) is important because it gives voice to a silenced minority and shows what Arab Americans growing up in America share with other minority groups," Sullivan said. "What's important is that it is a different slant from an Arab point of view on problems of patriarchy, sexuality and social justice."

The performance was funded primarily through IPRH and had several co-sponsors, including the Office of the Chancellor. Catanzarite said the play adds to the dialogue on the humanities in a globalizing world — one of the cross-campus initiatives spearheaded by Chancellor Nancy Cantor.

"These topics that have been in discussion on the national stage have also been under discussion in classes, reading groups, panel discussions and as part of informal interaction on campus," Catanzarite said.

Catanzarite said IPRH wants the play to further discussion on Arab Americans.

"We want it to be provocative and entertaining and continue the ongoing discussion that has taken place on a lot of corners on campus about the role of Arabs in America," she said.