Dixon Place & National Queer Theater present In Partnership With the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and NYC Pride Reading of Mosque4Mosque with talkback, moderated by Sharifa Yasmin Written by Omer Abbas Salem, directed by Sharifa Yasmin, starring Noor Hamdi*, Connor Bryant*, Rula Gardenier*, Bahar Beihaghi, and Martin Zebari*
About This Show
Ibrahim is the average 30-something Arab American Muslim who is constantly being reminded how unmarried he is by his relentlessly caring immigrant mother, Sara. Having helped raise his smart, popular, hijabi cheerleading younger sister Lena, Ibrahim has always been comfortable sinking into the background. Normal job, quiet life, easy men. But on the precipice of finding what could be his first real relationship, Sara feels compelled to take Ibrahim’s future into her own hands by attempting to arrange her son’s Big Gay Muslim Wedding all on her own. Mosque4Mosque is a comedy about a normal Muslim American family that asks us to wrestle with what we believe normal to be.
*We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Union, Actors’ Equity Association, through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their consideration in permitting the artists to appear in this program.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Omer Abbas Salem is a Chicago-based actor and playwright originally from Syria, Turkey, and Egypt. His Chicago acting credits include: Linda and Earthquakes in London (Steep Theatre), Pinocchio (The House Theatre), Princess Mary (Bailiwick Chicago), Le Switch (About Face), INVASION! (Silk Road Rising), Merge and Even Longer and Further Away (The New Colony), and Washer/Dryer (Rasaka Theatre). Regional Credits include: Angels in America I/II, A Christmas Carol, You Across From Me (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Off Broadway: Eddie and Dave (The Atlantic Theater) and I am Going to Change the World (Roundabout Theater). His writing has been featured by Jackalope Theater, The New Colony, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Theater Viscera. He is a proud Core Ensemble Member of The New Colony and an Actors Theatre of Louisville acting apprentice 17/18. www.omerabbassalem.com
Sharifa Yasmin is a trans Egyptian-American director based in NYC. She has completed directing fellowships with The Drama League, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, Geva Theatre, and Hypokrit Theatre. Directing Credits include The War Boys by Naomi Wallace, 3:59AM by Marco Ramirez, In The Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks, For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange, Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts, and an LGBTQ+ celebration of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. She has assisted directors including Pirronne Yousefzadeh, Steve H. Broadnax III, Saheem Ali, Mark Brokaw, Arpita Mukherjee and Meredith Mcdonough. Yasmin will be a Brown/Trinity MFA Directing Candidate for the class of 2024. www.sharifayasmin.com
Noor Hamdi is an actor based in New York City, having performed in theatre Off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally. He is a graduate of the William Esper Studio in acting as well as The Ohio State University, holding a dual-degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and Linguistics. In addition to acting, Noor is also an ESL, Arabic, Spanish, and Portuguese teacher, as well as a dialect coach. He is proudly Syrian-American, Muslim, and queer, and strives to be an advocate for people affected by refugee crises, especially the Syrian diaspora.
Bahar Beihaghi. Trained in LeCoq and Method. Previous credits: Ismene (Greece 2014), Medea (Paris 2016), The Bald Soprano, A Second Birth, Tosca Tehran (New York 2019). BS in civil engineering in Iran. MFA graduate of Actors Studio Drama School. Co-Founder of “Peydah Theater Company”. Bahar enjoys contemporary dance, singing, ballroom and kickboxing alongside her passion for Farsi and French languages. She sends all of her love and gratitude to her family and friends for their perpetual encouragement and support and to people of Iran, whom she’d love to represent through her art.
*We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Union, Actors’ Equity Association, through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their consideration in permitting the artists to appear in this program