Celebrate Pride Month, resistance, and love with National Queer Theater and PAC NYC.
She He Me is the first Arab transgender play. It follows the true stories of three Arab characters who challenge gender norms. Randa is an Algerian trans woman who is expelled under the threat of death from her homeland because of her LGBT activism there. Omar is a Jordanian non-binary person, who, rather than body dysphoria, suffers social dysphoria when it comes to the strict codes of masculinity imposed and expected of them by both the heterosexual and gay community around them. Rok is a Lebanese trans man. His main challenge is convincing his very conservative religious mother that her daughter is actually a boy. Through humor and horror, the three characters come up against the state, society, and family, but also themselves.
Originally developed for the 2020 Criminal Queerness Festival with Dixon Place.
She He Me Photo: Kosmos Theater
Moderator Lama El Homaïssi leads members of the cast and company in a discussion of the inspiration, themes, and creative process behind She He Me.
Contains domestic violence, police violence and sexual abuse.
Raphaël Amahl Khouri
Raphaël Amahl Khouri is a Jordanian documentary playwright and theatremaker living between Berlin and Cairo. Khouri is the author of several plays, including the first transgender Arab play, She He Me (staged at Kosmos Theatre, Vienna 2019 and also performed online as part of NYC’s Criminal Queerness Festival 2020), and No Matter Where I Go, a play about the lives of queer women and non-binary Lebanese people staged in Beirut 2014.
Dmitri Barcomi
Dmitri Barcomi (he/him) is a theater creator and director from New York City. His artistic interests include working with unusual source materials, integrating technology and live performance, and honoring queer icons. Dmitri’s work has been seen throughout New York at Target Margin, Ars Nova, Here Arts, La MaMa, BRIC, and other hubs of experimental new work, as well as internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Teatr Słowackiego in Kraków. Dmitri is co-founder of award-winning international artist collective §175, proud drag child in the Haus of Nogood, and artistic director of the newly opened Museum of Drag! BA: The New School, MFA Directing Candidate: Columbia University. mxbarcomi.com | @dmxbarcomi | @museumofdrag
National Queer Theater
National Queer Theater (NQT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theater company based in New York City, dedicated to celebrating the brilliance of generations of LGBTQ+ artists and providing a home for unheard storytellers and activists.
Cast:
Shaan Dasani
Shaan Dasani (he/him) (SAG-AFTRA, D.G.A.) is a multifaceted actor, writer, producer, and director who began his career behind the camera. With an MFA in film production from Chapman University, Shaan has produced and directed over 30 short films and music videos.
As an actor, he has been featured in commercials for Google, Uber Eats and Wells Fargo, and on TV for CBS’s Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. and Fox’s 9-1-1. He is best known for his work in the Emmy-nominated series Razor Tongue, and beloved award-winning comedy series These Thems. No stranger to the stage, Shaan is a two-time performer at the Hollywood Fringe Festival as well as the Young Playwright’s Festival in Los Angeles. As a theater director, Shaan holds a standing collaboration with Los Angeles based Celebration Theater, directing up to two shows each year with a goal of nurturing emerging transgender and GNC performers. Keep a lookout for Shaan on screen in his soon to be digitally released penned project Agents of Change, a spy genre film about secret agents who fight environmental crime, as well as Nava Mau’s All the Words But One (currently on the festival circuit) and Radha Mehta’s Shams (coming soon).
Amaal Saifudeen
Amaal Saifudeen (she/her) is a director and intimacy coordinator who is originally from New Orleans and now resides in Brooklyn. She is incredibly excited to be stepping into the acting side of things and making her NQT debut in She He Me. All of her gratitude to the cast and company, NQT, Larry Darling, Carmen Castillo, Lisa Stephen Friday, Unkle-Dave’s Fighthouse, and her family.
Louis Sallan
Louis Sallan (any) is an Arab American actor and dialect/acting coach who has his BA from WMU and an MFA from NYU Graduate Acting. Recent theatre credits include: Emma (The Guthrie, DCPA); Mr. Elton, Layalina (The Goodman); Yassir/Mazin, Oslo (Northern Stage); Hassan, The Invisible Hand (Cleveland Playhouse); Bashir, The Mecca Tales (The Sheen Center); Reza, The Strangest (New York Theatre Workshop); Nounu. TV/Film Credits: Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, and Madame Secretary.
Creative Team:
Riw Rakkulchon
Riw (pronounced Ree-you) (he/they) is a set and costume designer, animator and Chef from Bangkok, Thailand. He/They has worked at Yale Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, The Old Globe, Drury Lane Theatre, Asolo Rep, The Acting Company, 59E59, Edinburgh Fringe, Primary Stages, Hartford Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, The Public Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music amongst others. Broadway Associate Set Design: Pass Over, & Juliet, Parade.
Jason A. Goodwin
Jason A. Goodwin (he/him) is a NY-based costume designer and scenic artist. Born and raised in Virginia, Jason moved to New York to attend NYU, where he graduated with a BFA in drama from Tisch’s production & design studio. Since leaving University, Jason has supported projects on and off Broadway, including Disney’s Aladdin (national tour), Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (national tour), Back to the Future: The Musical, Hell’s Kitchen at the Public Theatre, Disney’s Hercules in Hamburg, Germany, and All of Me at The New Group.
Moneé Stamp
Moneé Stamp (she/her) is a third-generation Caribbean immigrant born and raised in Long Island, New York. She was previously lighting designer for the Criminal Queerness Festival at Lincoln Center with National Queer Theater. She received her BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA from Ohio University. She has managed juggling being a full-time mom, owning her own business, freelancing, and using her art to help other BIPOC feel represented. Recently, she designed God’s Way (Braata Productions) and Panther Women.
Ryan Gamblin
Ryan Gamblin (they/them) is a sound designer, composer, and performance-maker based in Brooklyn, NY, working across performance, installation, and music. Their work centers around the use of original composition, found media, and system manipulation. They have worked with artists including Faye Driscoll, Big Dance Theater, The Civilians, 600 Highwaymen, Talking Band, Mallory Catlett / Restless NYC, Jess Barbagallo, Stacy Grossfield, Theater Mitu, and many others. Member, TSDCA. RyanGamblin.com
Maria Mukuka
Maria Mukuka (she/her) is a Greek/Zambian actor, educator, and dialect coach. She has worked on numerous Off-Broadway productions both as an actor and dialect coach at renowned theaters including The Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park, La MaMa ETC, Irondale, The Tank, and others. Additionally, Maria works in her home country of Zambia, adapting classics into contemporary Zambian plays. Maria is a lecturer of acting at Brooklyn College, where she received her MFA in acting.
Ann C. James
Ann C. James (she/they), sensitivity specialist, debuted as the first Black intimacy coordinator on Broadway for Pass Over. Recently, her company Intimacy Coordinators of Color was awarded a Special Citation from the Obie Awards. Broadway: Lempicka, Hamilton, Parade, Sweeney Todd, Heart of Rock and Roll, The Outsiders, Jelly’s Last Jam.
Begüm "Begsy" Inal
Begüm “Begsy” Inal (they/she) is a gender non-conforming theater artist born and raised in Turkey. Begsy graduated from Columbia University’s Dramaturgy MFA and brings their multi-disciplinary work and Turkish delight to many sides of performance—stage, props, and costume designing; writing; and dramaturging arts pieces. Begsy is an artistic associate at La MaMa ETC and works on different mediums of performance centered around marginalized voices. They were the dramaturg for National Queer Theater’s 4th and 5th Annual Criminal Queerness Festival at the Lincoln Center. Begsy is currently working on their new caffeinated and transformational project Magic Coffee Shop.
Joseph Hayes
Joseph Hayes (he/him) is a casting director who is at the forefront of creating and inciting the change that is inevitable in our industry. TV: The Bear (Hulu), Emperor of Ocean Park (MGM+), Mr. Throwback (Peacock), Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+). Film: Alto Knights. Broadway: Chicago, Hadestown, Six, Dear Evan Hansen, The Phantom of the Opera, Aladdin, and Sing Street. National Tour: Hairspray, Sound of Music, Les Misérables, Cats, and Aida.
Vaibu Mohan
Vaibu Mohan (she/her) is a writer, musician, dancer, director, and producer specializing in bringing South Asian forms of storytelling and theater making into the Western sphere. She founded the Work in Progress series (54 Below), giving early career writers a place to present their work. As a Bharatnatyam performer and creator, Mohan creates pieces stretching the genre and exploring connections between disparate artforms. Mohan has performed at 54 Below, Greenroom 42, La Mama Theater, Lincoln Center, and Midnight Theater. She is a graduate of the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.
Rose Oser
Rose Oser (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based theatremaker from the Bay Area. They worked at Z Space from 2017-2022 where they rose from Associate Artistic Director to Producing Director, and produced The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera and the Problematic Play Festival (LMDA Bly Award). Librettist: Shoshana in December (Custom Made, Relentless Award Honorable Mention 2022, NEA ArtWorks recipient) and Tinderella: the modern musical (FaultLine, Custom Made, Portland’5). Producer and host: Tinder Disrupt and Poly Poly Oxen Free. Resident dramaturg at The Grove at Goodspeed. More at www.roseoser.com.
Adam Odsess-Rubin
Adam Odsess-Rubin (he/him) is the Founding Artistic Director of National Queer Theater (NQT) and Co-Founder of the acclaimed Criminal Queerness Festival. At NQT, Odsess-Rubin has presented work with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, NYTW, NYC Pride, and MCC Theater. He has published work in Howlround and The Teaching Artist Journal on queer theater education, and is a 2020 Mayor’s Grant for Cultural Impact awardee and AM NY LGBTQ+ Power Player. BA: UC Santa Cruz MA: NYU.
Kevin Jinghong Zhu
Kevin Jinghong Zhu (he/him) is excited to return to Criminal Queerness Festival with NQT. Selected Off-Broadway credits: Between Two Knees (PAC NYC); Salesman Zhisi (Yangtze Rep); A Delicate Balance (Transport Group, NAATCO); Romeo and Juliet (NAATCO); Public Obscenities (Soho Rep, NAATCO); Asilomar (MTC). Selected regional credits: Scrooge! (Arizona Theatre Company); Between Two Knees (Seattle Rep, McCarter); Dial M for Murder, Kim’s Convenience (Westport Country Playhouse); Today is My Birthday, A Raisin in the Sun (Yale Rep); Dream Hou$e (Long Wharf). Proud member of Equity. bit.ly/kjzsm