About the Show

Astoria Performing Arts Center presents the world premiere of the fairy tale story of Dima, a 16-year old girl with a rare skin condition, who gets by with some help from her secret friends.

Not every fairy tale has sunshine. Dima lives cloistered away in her bedroom, far from prying eyes. Her parents worry that she’ll never have the “normal” American teenage experience they sought for her when they came to New York from Afghanistan. But they don't know about Dima’s 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 get her happy ending? Rapunzel never had it this bad…or this good.

Critic Reviews (1)

“A show that positively sparkles with life while dealing with some heavy topics... Special appreciation should be given to Claire DeLiso’s set design, which is literally multi-layered and dynamic, like the story...Monet Hurst-Mendoza’s script should be applauded for its loving portrayal of a Muslim family, not as foreign or fetishized, but as an ordinary American family living in extraordinary circumstances.”
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