Mosque4Mosque playbill
A Warm Welcome from About Face Theatre’s Artistic Director
This play already has a big fan club—and we’re excited that you’re joining us!
Born of a writers’ workshop at Chicago’s Jackalope Theatre, Omer Abbas Salem’s Mosque4Mosque was shaped by a development opportunity with the National Queer Theater in New York and then again with Steppenwolf’s SCOUT program. Generous partners at Silk Road Rising produced and recorded a panel titled, “Putting It Together: Muslimness, Queerness, and Joy” that brought the playwright into conversation with scholars and religious leaders. All of that love and labor over the past few years paved the way and it’s truly an honor to produce the world premiere at About Face Theatre.
There’s nothing simple about Mosque4Mosque and its characters, which is one of the many reasons why this story is so recognizable, irresistible, and satisfying. Identities are complex, people we love surprise us, and hostile political acts wreak havoc in our lives. But the specificity of the war in Syria, the ripple effects of anti-Muslim fear and hate, the intolerance toward Arab immigrants, and the increasing cultural divides across our country strongly define this play making it stand out among the queer narratives we’ve seen onstage before.
This visionary team—director, playwright, designers, stage managers, cast and crew, and a multitude of collaborators you can learn about in the program—have each held this story and the process with personal courage, grace, and lots of humor. With a daring combination of precision, defiance, and vulnerability, they are demonstrating the power of theatre to change the world, one story at a time.
Thank you for being here. Enjoy the show!
Megan Carney
About Face Theatre Artistic Director
About Face Theatre
| MEGAN CARNEY | LOGAN JONES |
| Artistic Director | Managing Director |
presents
Written by
Omer Abbas Salem
Directed by
Sophiyaa Nayar
Cast
| Ibrahim | Omer Abbas Salem |
| Sara | Rula Gardenier |
| Lena | Gloria Imseih Petrelli |
| James/Jesse | Jordan Dell Harris |
| Karim/The Lawyer/El_Bagzaddy | Rom Barkhordar* |
| u/s Ibrahim | Faiz Siddique |
| u/s Sara | Iman Kamel |
| u/s James | Brade Bradshaw |
| u/s Lena | Yourtana Sulaiman |
| u/s Karim/The Lawyer/El_Bagzaddy | Josh Razavi |
Production Team
| Associate Director | NADYA NAUMAAN |
| Dramaturg | ABHI SHRESHTHA |
| Scenic Designer | STEVEN ABBOTT |
| Lighting Designer | CONCHITA AVITIA |
| Sound Designer | ERIC BACKUS |
| Costume Designer | JOS N. BANKS |
| Properties Designer | LONNAE HICKMAN |
| Intimacy Choreographer | KIRSTEN BAITY |
| Cultural Consultant | ZEINA ZAATARI |
| Fight Director | GABY LABOTKA |
| Dialect Consultant | SAMMI GRANT |
| Accessibility Coordinator | GIANNI CARCAGNO |
| Lead Carpenter | Logan Jones |
| Scenic Crew | Clay Frankel Danny Halminiak Chas Mathieu Kyle McDermott Alex Rhyan Quinn Tsan Peter Wilde |
| Scenic Painters | Steven Abbott Tara Huffman |
| Lead Electrician | HANNAH BOLSTAD |
| Casting Director | CATHERINE MILLER |
| Production Manager | AUDREY KLEINE |
| Production Stage Manager | LOGAN JONES* |
| Asst. Stage Manager | ANNA MARGEVICH |
| Asst. Stage Manager | REBECCA WALKER |
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers
Special Thanks
About Face Theatre extends a special thank you to Amy Peter and The Theatre School at DePaul University, and Tara Mallen and Rivendell Theatre.
Performer Bios
Rom Barkhordar (he/him): Karim Phillip Algiers, The Lawyer, @El_Bagzaddy
This is Rom’s first production at About Face Theatre. He’s been living and acting in Chicago for 23 years. Local credits include Wife of a Salesman (Writer’s Theatre); Acts of God (Lookingglass Theatre); Yasmina’s Necklace (Goodman Theatre); Vanya (Or, ‘That’s Life!’) (Rasaka Theatre); Mosque Alert (Silk Road Rising); The Who and the What (Victory Gardens); In a Garden (A Red Orchid Theatre, Jeff Nomination Best Actor); Regional credits: Proof (Kitchen Theatre); Disgraced (Virginia Stage Co.); The Who and the What (Huntington Theatre, IRNE Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Around the World in 80 Days (Center Stage Theatre). Television credits: Chicago Med, Proven Innocent, Chicago Justice, Chicago Fire, Boss. Rom is a proud Organizer for SWANASA Central and is represented by Gray Talent Group. Many thanks to Abbas and Maren Robinson.
Brade Bradshaw (he/him): u/s James/Jessie
Brade is excited to be making his About Face Theatre debut. Some favorite past theatre credits include: Creede Repertory Theatre, Second City, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Children’s Theatre of Madison, and Third Avenue Playhouse. Brade received his BFA in Acting with a minor in Directing from Oklahoma City University and completed the EPR Program at Milwaukee Rep post graduation. Special thanks to his amazing friends and family, his unbelievably supportive parents, and his all-star team at Paonessa Talent Agency. bradebradshaw.com
Rula Gardenier (she/her): Sara
Rula is thrilled to make her About Face Theatre debut and for the opportunity to work with this amazing team of artists. Now based in Los Angeles, Rula was last seen in the Chicago stage production Mosque Alert (Silk Road Rising). Film: Breaking Fast, theatrical/streaming on Amazon and Hulu; First Gens out in 2023. TV: The Consultant, Leech, Chicago Med, New Amsterdam, Pearson, The Looming Tower, The Following. Rula is the recipient of the Jury Award for best performance in a supporting role (OUT International film festival) for Breaking Fast.
Jordan Dell Harris (he/him): James/Jesse
Jordan is thrilled to make his About Face Theatre debut in this beautiful play! A Georgia native, Jordan is now proud to be a Chicago-based actor and visual artist. Recent work includes Queer Eye: The Musical Parody at The Second City and The Boys in the Band at Windy City Playhouse (Jeff Award Winner – Best Ensemble). Other Chicago credits include work with Goodman Theatre, Raven Theatre, Griffin Theatre, The Story Theatre, BoHo Theatre, and many more. TV credits include 4400 (CW) and Next (Fox). Repped by Gray Talent Group. Thank you for supporting Queer Theatre! www.JordanDellHarris.com
Iman Kamel (she/her): u/s Sara
Iman is excited to be a part of her first show with About Face Theatre and is very grateful to share the stage with such a wonderful and supportive cast. This will be Iman’s first Chicago theater credit, but she has enjoyed participating in musical theater groups such as Mimes and Mummers and Splinter at Fordham University. Currently, Iman is receiving her Masters of Literature at Northwestern University where she will write her thesis on North African and French literary theorists. A special thanks to her family, friends, and her Teta! Iman is represented by Gray Talent Group.
Gloria Imseih Petrelli (she/they): Lena
Gloria Imseih Petrelli is a Chicago born and based artist and organizer. She is overjoyed to be home after finishing up a season of understudying unseen by Mona Mansour at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Other credits include Layalina (New Stages, Goodman Theatre), Kiss (Haven Theatre), and Three Sisters (The Neighborhood Theatre). She is also the voice of M. Bubbz in the Jackbox Game Job Job. Gloria is so honored to be a small part of changing the American canon. To find out more and subscribe to her newsletter, visit www.thegloriaimseihpetrelli.com.
Josh Razavi (he/him): u/s Karim/The Lawyer/El_Bagzaddy
Josh is excited to make his About Face Theater debut in Mosque4Mosque! He was last seen in Vinegar Tom (Red Theater), but has also been seen with The Factory Theater, Wildclaw Theater, Silk Road Rising, Redtwist Theater, First Folio, and The Ghostlight Theater Ensemble. A graduate of Illinois State University’s Theatre program, upon arrival in Chicago he trained and performed improv and sketch extensively with The Second City and iO Chicago, respectively. He is an Artistic Associate with the Factory Theater and represented by Stewart Talent. Josh is of proud Persian heritage and stands with the Women of Iran. Socials: @JoshRzv
Omer Abbas Salem (he/they): Ibrahim
Omer Abbas Salem is a Chicago actor and playwright. As an actor, he’s worked with Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Coordinates, Jackalope Theatre, Steep Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Griffin Theatre, The House, Bailiwick Chicago, Actors Theatre of Louisville, St. Louis Rep, Roundabout Theater, and The Atlantic Theater. As a playwright, his work has been developed and produced at Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, First Floor Theater, DePaul University, National Queer Theater, Definition Theatre, About Face Theater, and The New Coordinates. He is the winner of Steppenwolf’s SCOUT Development Project (20/21), Definition Theatre’s Amplify Commission (20/21), Goodman Theatre’s Future Labs Development (21), The Cunningham Commission at DePaul Theatre School (21/22), Goodman Theatre’s Playwrights Unit (21/22) and First Floor Theater’s Blueprint Commission (21/22). He was an apprentice of the Actors Theatre of Louisville (17/18) and is also a proud ensemble member with Jackalope Theatre, Steep Theatre, First Floor Theater, and The New Coordinates. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and the University of Chicago. During the day, he’s a Client Strategist in new-tech. Abbas is represented by DDO Artist Agency and The Gersh Agency. More at omerabbassalem.com.
Faiz Siddique (he/him): u/s Ibrahim
Faiz is an actor based in Chicago. This is his first production with About Face Theatre, and he couldn’t be more excited to work with such a talented group of artists. Most recently he was seen as Leo Irving in In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) at Florida’s Studio Theatre. Looking ahead Faiz can be seen understudying in Andy Warhol in Iran at Northlight theatre.
Yourtana Sulaiman (she/her): u/s Lena
Yourtana is a proud Iraqi-Assyrian actor. She is SO excited to make her About Face Theatre debut with this beautiful play and team. Recent Chicago credits include Chagall in School (Grippo Stage Company), As You Like It (Forest Park Theatre Company), The Q Brothers’: Da Mixtape, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and The Crucible (UIC Theatre). Special shout out to her own messy, wonderful, family and their giant jars of olives and piping hot chai. Repped by Grossman & Jack Talent. @yourtana on instagram.
Production Bios
Steven Abbott (he/they): Scenic Designer
Steven Abbott is a Chicago based scenic designer and artist. Scenic Design credits include The Magnolia Ballet (About Face Theatre), A Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds (DePaul University), Polaroid Stories (DePaul University). Assistant Scenic Designer for Fur (New York Theatre Workshop), Hansel and Gretel (DePaul Opera). Scenic painting credits include The Notebook: The Musical (Chicago Shakespeare), The Sound of Music (Paramount), It Came From Outer Space (Chicago Shakespeare), Pearl’s Rolling In the Blues (Writer’s Theatre), Relentless (TimeLine Theatre Company), Who’s Holiday (Theater Wit). He graduated with a BFA in Scenic Design from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 2020.
Conchita Avitia (she/her): Lighting Designer
Conchita is a freelance Mexican-American Lighting Designer based in Chicago; she holds her BA in Theatre Design from Columbia College Chicago. Recent design credits are with Concrete Content (The Wizards), Steep Theater (Paris; Co-Designed), Free Street Theater (57 Blocks), and Broken Nose Theatre (This Is Only A Test). When she isn’t designing, she is serving as an ALD throughout the city; recent Assistant Lighting Designer credits are with TimeLine Theater (Relentless), Chicago Shakes (As You Like It), Steppenwolf Theatre (Dance Nation), and Court Theatre (For Colored Girls). For production photos and updates visit www.avitialighting.com.
Eric Backus (he/him): Sound Designer
Eric is thrilled to return to About Face after working on previous productions Packing, This Bitter Earth, and Bull in a China Shop. He also previously collaborated with director Sophiyaa Nayar on Omar Abbas Salem’s audio drama Love in the Time of Jonestown. Off-Broadway: Hollow/Wave (United Solo Festival), Churchill (SoloChicago Theatre); Regional credits include Milwaukee Rep., Northern Stage, TheatreSquared, The Rev, and Lake Dillion Theatre Co. Chicago credits include productions at Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Northlight, Writers, Windy City Playhouse, Raven Theatre, American Blues Theater, and many others. Please visit www.ericbackus.com.
Kirsten Baity (they/them): Intimacy Designer
Kirsten is a multifaceted theatre person focused on intimacy design, theatre education, and playwriting. Favorite credits include Rent (Porchlight Music Theatre), Cruel Intentions the 90’s Musical (Kokandy Productions), The Magnolia Ballet (About Face Theatre), and Sugar in Our Wounds (Richmond Triangle Players). They have consulted on productions and developed consent-based workshops with The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, For Youth Inquiry, Life Span, and Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline. Kirsten is a proud member of the Intimacy Coordinators of Color cohort and About Face Theatre’s Green Room Collective. For more info, check out kirstenbaity.com
Jos N. Banks (he/him): Costume Designer
Jos is a multi- award winning Visual/ Performing Arts Artist, Costume Designer, Stylist & Teaching Artist hailing from Chicago, IL. Tours: International – Kinky Boots (Lola), Hair (Hud), The Color Purple (Harpo). Regional: Ms. Blakk For President (“Joan Jett Blakk,” Steppenwolf), Songs For a New World (Farmers Alley Theatre), What To Send Up (Congo Square), Dada Woof Papa Hot (About Face Theatre), Jesus Christ Superstar (Paramount Theatre), The Color Purple and Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Drury Lane Theatre), The Scottsboro Boys (Porchlight Music Theatre). Film: “Ocean” in Showtime’s The Chi, “Dr. Greg Martinson” in Showtime’s Work In Progress and Rise Against music video “Make It Stop” (Lead). Nominated Best Costume Designer for the 2012, 2016/17 & 2019 BTAA (Black Theater Alliance Awards). Curator & keynote speaker of his very own Master Class, entitled “#BeFEARLESS w/ Jos N. Banks”. Representation: Paonessa Talent Agency. www.FearlessJos.com // Follow Me: Twitter/JosNBanks Instagram/JosNBanks
Hannah Bolstad (she/her): Lead Electrician
Hannah is so excited to work on her first project post-graduation from Columbia College Chicago! She can’t wait for everyone to see the work of this wonderful production team on the stage tonight. Enjoy the show!
MEGAN CARNEY (she/her): AFT Artistic Director
Megan is a director, playwright, and teaching artist. Recent Chicago directing credits include The Gulf, 20/20, and Time Is On Our Side (About Face), Winter, Grizzly Mama, Danielle Pinnock’s Body/Courage, American Wee Pie, and The Walls (Rivendell). Megan has written several plays based on true stories, including Women At War based on 75 interviews with women in the military (Rivendell); Open Systems about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (Goodman Theatre); Let Them Eat Cake about marriage equality (Dixon Place, NYC); and multiple large ensemble plays with About Face Youth Theatre, which she co-founded. Megan’s work in theatre and community building has been recognized with multiple After Dark Awards, the GLSEN Pathfinder Award, an APA Presidential Citation, induction into Chicago’s LGBT Hall of Fame, and a Rockefeller Foundation MAP Grant. Megan served as the Director of the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she developed public arts-based programs and led interactive workshops. She is a certified mediator with the Center for Conflict Resolution, earned an MFA in Theatre with a focus on Directing and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech as well as a BA from Kalamazoo College, where her ideas about art as a tool for social justice and activism began to take shape.
Sammi Grant (she/her): Dialect Consultant
Sammi is a Chicago-based dialect/vocal coach and voice/speech teacher. Chicago theatres she has worked with include: Goodman Theatre, timeline Theatre, Drury Lane, Porchlight Music Theatre, Gift Theatre, First Folio Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, and many more. Film/TV Credits: Rescued By Ruby (Netflix); Patriot (Amazon Prime; The Exorcist (Fox). Sammi is a voice/speech teacher for The Theatre School at DePaul University and Illinois Wesleyan University. She holds an MFA with Distinction in Voice Studies from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is currently on the Board of Directors of The Voice and Speech Traners Association (VASTA).
LOGAN JONES (he/they): Stage Manager, AFT Managing Director
Logan is a Chicago-based artist, administrator, and consultant. He has frequently collaborated with multiple theatre companies while utilizing his artistic and technical skills, organizational capabilities, and highly-collaborative working style. Logan has worked with Ensemble Consulting as Facilitator and Project Manager on various leadership transitions and organizational development projects since 2015. As a stage manager and production manager, he has helmed multiple productions for About Face Theatre, American Theater Company, The House Theatre of Chicago, Windy City Playhouse, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 13Exp, and the American Music Theatre Project, among others. Logan holds a BA in Theatre and BA in Modern Languages from Kansas State University, a certificate in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from University of South Florida, and is a graduate of the Axelson Center Bootcamp for Nonprofit CEOs at North Park University.
Lonnae Hickman (she/her): Properties Designer
Lonnae (Luh-nae) Hickman grew up in Milwaukee but has adopted Chicago as her new home. She graduated from DePaul’s Theatre School with a double major in Theatre and History. She’s worked with American Players Theatre, Steep Theatre, Definition Theatre, Teatro Vista, among many others all in prop design. She’s passionate about finding to tell stories that not only need to be told but have slipped through the cracks of the theatre world.
AUDREY KLEINE (she/her): AFT Production Manager
Audrey is a Chicago-based artist and the Operations and Production Manager at About Face Theatre. She moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to Chicago to attend college and received a BA in Theater with a concentration in Stage Management from Columbia College Chicago in 2017. After graduating, she freelanced as an Assistant Stage Manager and Production Assistant for more than a dozen productions at Chicago theaters including Windy City Playhouse, The Goodman, About Face Theatre, Rivendell and more.
Gaby Labotka (she/they): Combat Designer
Gaby is excited to return to About Face after serving as the Fight & Intimacy Director for The Gulf. She is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist who works as an actor, director, intimacy director, fight director, and choreographer across the country. She is a fierce advocate for respect, empathy, representation, inclusion, and safety in the theatre, and they are dedicated to making art that reflects those values. Recent/Selected: Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Steep Theatre Co, Fight & Intimacy Director); House of Joy (Repertory Theatre St. Louis, Fight & Intimacy Director); Paradise Square (Broadway, Intimacy Director); Revenge Song (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Asst. Director/Asst. Fight Director); and WHITE (Definition Theatre, Intimacy Director); Gaby is a Certified Intimacy Director through Intimacy Directors & Coordinators, an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and the recipient of two Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists Awards for Outstanding Fight Choreography. www.gabylabotka.com @theatre_warrior
Anna Margevich (she/they): Asst. Stage Manager
Anna is a recent graduate from Northwestern University, where she studied Theatre, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Journalism, while also completing the playwriting module. Anna is thrilled to be at the beginning of their journey working in Chicago theatre. They worked on Shakespeare in the Parks this summer with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, served as the PSM for BoHo Theatre’s production of National Merit this fall, and most recently worked on 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre. Anna thanks her stage management mentor, Barbara Butts, and the entire team at About Face Theatre for exemplifying the importance of queer storytelling.
Catherine Miller (they/them): Casting Director
Catherine is honored to be working with About Face Theatre for the first time. They are the resident casting director for Jackalope Theatre and have cast productions for Raven Theatre, Haven Chicago, American Musical Theatre Project at Northwestern, BoHo Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Red Tape, and First Floor Theater, among many others. Catherine is also a dramaturg and gender consultant, working with Actors Theatre of Louisville, Paramount Theatre, The New Coordinates, Strawdog Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Ion Theatre, and First Floor Theater. Catherine was a 2021 3Arts Make A Wave recipient and was recently featured in American Theatre Magazine’s Role Call. They also were on NewCity’s 2020 + 2019 Players: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago and the Windy City Times’ 30 Under 30 list. Catherine has a BFA in Dramaturgy/Criticism from The Theatre School at DePaul.
Sophiyaa Nayar (she/her): Director
Sophiyaa is from New Delhi, India. She creates interdisciplinary and genre-bending work that centers (im)migrants. She is a member of the WP Lab 2020-22, 3Arts Make a Wave Grantee, a Definition Theatre ensemble member, a member of Directors’ Lab Chicago 2017, and a resident in Milwaukee Rep’s 2017/18 season. Recent directing credits: Modern Women by Omer Abbas Salem (Playwrights Unit Reading, Goodman Theatre), Plural (Love) by Jen Goma and Haruna Lee (WP, Pipeline Festival), Shakuntala by Lavina Jadhwani (Future Labs, Goodman Theatre). Love in the Time of Jonestown: A Radio Play by Omer Abbas Salem (New Coordinates), Good Years by Ada Alozie (Film, Definition Theatre), Pretty Shahid by Omer Abbas Salem (Jackalope Theatre). Recent AD credits: Search for Signs of Intelligent Life… with Cecily Strong (Leigh Silverman), Nollywood Dreams (Saheem Ali). She was part of the SDC Foundation’s Observership Class, through which she worked on Soft Power by Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang at The Public. Her production of EthiopianAmerica By Sam Kebede (Definition Theatre) won Black Theatre Alliance Awards for Best Play, Featured Actor and Actress, and a Jeff award for Fight Choreography. She has developed work with Steppenwolf, Center Theatre Group, The Shed, American Players Theatre, Writers Theatre, Jackalope, Milwaukee Rep, and MCC theatre. Her recent touring show, Movement Live is headed to Lincoln Center in 2023. More on sophiyaanayar.net.
Nadya Naumaan (she/they): Associate Director
Nadya is a writer, dramaturg, actor, director, and more based in Chicago. Previous credits include the Steppenwolf SCOUT iteration of Mosque4Mosque (AD), Jackalope’s Pretty Shahid (Dramaturg) and Fast Company (AD), Court Theatre’s Photograph 51 (AD), ITP’s I Call My Brothers (Dramaturg), and Love in the Time of Jonestown (AD). Nadya’s short film STUCK was a finalist in The Mosquers Film Festival in 2019 and was screened at 8 other film festivals. Their webseries, Pooj&Nad, was a finalist at the same festival in 2022.
Omer Abbas Salem (he/they): playwright
Omer Abbas Salem is a Chicago actor and playwright. As an actor, he’s worked with Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Coordinates, Jackalope Theatre, Steep Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Griffin Theatre, The House, Bailiwick Chicago, Actors Theatre of Louisville, St. Louis Rep, Roundabout Theater, and The Atlantic Theater. As a playwright, his work has been developed and produced at Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, First Floor Theater, DePaul University, National Queer Theater, Definition Theatre, About Face Theater, and The New Coordinates. He is the winner of Steppenwolf’s SCOUT Development Project (20/21), Definition Theatre’s Amplify Commission (20/21), Goodman Theatre’s Future Labs Development (21), The Cunningham Commission at DePaul Theatre School (21/22), Goodman Theatre’s Playwrights Unit (21/22) and First Floor Theater’s Blueprint Commission (21/22). He was an apprentice of the Actors Theatre of Louisville (17/18) and is also a proud ensemble member with Jackalope Theatre, Steep Theatre, First Floor Theater, and The New Coordinates. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and the University of Chicago. During the day, he’s a Client Strategist in new-tech. Abbas is represented by DDO Artist Agency and The Gersh Agency. More at omerabbassalem.com.
Abhi Shreshtha (they/them): Dramaturg
Steppenwolf Theatre Company: 1919, Mosque4Mosque (SCOUT workshop). Select Chicago Credits: KISS (Co-Director, Haven Theatre); The Total Bent (Dramaturg, Haven Theatre); I Call My Brothers (Director, Interrobang Theatre); Picnic (Assistant Director, American Theatre Company). Shrestha is an arts educator, writer, and theatre-maker originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. They are the Interim Director of Education at Steppenwolf, a staff member of The Chicago Inclusion Project, and a board member of the Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health.
Rebecca Walker (she/her): Asst. Stage Manager
Rebecca is a stage manager based in Chicago working on her first show with About Face Theatre. She is a recent graduate from Loyola University Chicago, receiving a BA in Theatre and BS in Psychology. During her time at Loyola, she stage managed multiple shows including Into the Woods and The Wolves. Previously, she worked as a Stage Management Intern at Goodman Theatre for Swing State. She’s incredibly grateful to her friends, family, and girlfriend for their unending support.
Zeina Zaatari (she/her): Cultural Consultant
For over 25 years Zeina Zaatari has worked on gender and racial justice in Arab and Arab American communities both within academic and non-profit spaces in programming, philanthropic, and producing knowledge. Zeina currently works as the Director of the Arab American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Previously, she worked as Research Director at Political Research Associates, and as the Regional Director for the MENA Program at Global Fund for Women (2004-2012) where she managed a diverse grantmaking program to support women’s and trans movements in the Middle East and North Africa. Zeina earned her PhD in Cultural Anthropology with an emphasis in Feminist Theory from the University of California at Davis. Zeina serves as the Associate Editor for the Middle East and Africa (northern and sub-Saharan) for the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. She is a member of the International Advisory Board for Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. She is a co-founder an elected Advisor for the MENA Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders. More info and publications on her website.
Our Mission
About Face Theatre advances LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance.
Our Vision
About Face Theatre envisions an affirming and equitable world in which all LGBTQ+ individuals are thriving and free from prejudice and discrimination.
Anti-racism Statement
About Face Theatre is dedicated to being an intentionally and increasingly anti-racist organization. Due to the intersectionality of our identities, we understand our work to advance LGBTQ+ equity as directly connected to movements for racial justice.
Thank you to our Generous Funders
For a complete list of our donors and supporters, please visit our Support Us page.
BECOME AN ABOUT FACE SUPPORTER TODAY!
Today, it’s more important than ever to tell bold, powerful LGBTQ+ stories on stage, in our communities, and now online. About Face Theatre’s work is a powerful catalyst for moving forward local and national conversations on sexual and gender identity. During AFT’s 2019-2020 season, we persisted through amazing challenges to continue to connect with our community and continue telling LGBTQ stories.
- Our in-person and virtual productions and educational programming reached almost 4,800 community members
- Our community outreach production adapted its stories for the internet, creating the amazing Power in Pride at Home web series
- AFT’s Youth Ensemble and Youth Task Force produced online cabarets that reached more than twice as many viewers as our in-person events
With your help, we will continue to adapt and expand our impact into Chicago communities and beyond.
