CRIMINAL QUEERNESS FESTIVAL 2026 at HERE Arts Center to Highlight Palestinian, Egyptian, and Syrian-American Artists

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Tony Award-nominee John-Andrew Morrison joins Nadia Dandashi in AREA D, directed by Osh Ashruf.

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HERE Arts Center has announced the cast of the 2026 Criminal Queerness Festival, the official theater event of NYC Pride. Now in its eighth year, the 2026 festival will showcase the work of Palestinian, Egyptian, and Syrian-American artists at HERE Arts Center, June 10-27. Tickets are available for advance purchase at HERE Arts Center Tickets .

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In Area D, written by Palestinian playwright LOUR and directed by Osh Ashruf , Nadia Dandashi (Suffs) stars as Lara, a Palestinian musician whose band wins the unprecedented and fraught opportunity to compete in Eurovision. She is joined by John-Andrew Morrison (A Strange Loop, Tony Award nominee; Oh, Mary!) as Avery Kent, Abubakr Ali (Anything's Possible) as Samir, as well as Amelia Prochaska as Dina and Nick Abouzeid as Rami.

Area D follows a Palestinian band as it charts its history-making path to the Eurovision stage. What starts as a lucky break spirals into a glitter-drenched spectacle, forcing the band to confront how far they will go to get their voices heard and save one of their own. AREA D is a bold, genre-smashing musical fusing Arab-pop, punk, and electronic sounds.

Performances will take place on Wednesday, June 10 at 9 p.m., Thursday, June 11 at 9 p.m., Friday, June 12 at 9 p.m., Saturday, June 13 at 5 p.m., and Saturday, June 13 at 9 p.m.

faggy faafi Cairo boy, written by Egyptian playwright Bazeed and directed by Shadi Ghaheri , stars George Shakkour as Mohammad, the prodigal son who returns home to Cairo to attend to his ailing father. The cast also includes Hassan Nazari-Robati (The Kite Runner, National Tour) as Yasser, Jakeem Powell (Public Obscenities) as Jacob, Anton Obeid as Mohammad's Father, and Jae W.B. as Angel G.

faggy faafi Cairo boy explores the space between living and whatever the hell comes next, between daddy issues and Daddy issues, between the city that never sleeps and the city that never even blinks. Mohammad, the prodigal, closeted son returns to Cairo, and to his father's rapidly failing, irrevocable body. Distanced from his NYC boyfriend, Mohammad reunites with an old Cairo flame who now has a life of his own. And who's to judge him, besides that angry little angel in the corner of the hospital room?

Performances will take place on Wednesday, June 17 at 8:30 p.m., Thursday, June 18 at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, June 20 at 5 p.m., and Saturday, June 20 at 8:30 p.m.

Syrian standup comedian E. Zaalan wrote and will perform in Syrian Soap, which is directed by Tallie Medel (original direction by Natasha Mercado).

Syrian Soap fuses E. Zaalan's vocations as both a standup comedian and clown. The work asks its audience to Eat, Pray, Bathe with their exasperated ancestors in an intergalactic bathhouse and ponder: What kind of future ancestor do I wish to become? How far am I willing to go to express my authentic self? How much lotion is it acceptable to put on in front of other people? Full of heart and irreverence, Syrian Soap is as much a fever dream as it is a stand-up and clown show.

Performances will take place on Wednesday, June 24 at 8:30 p.m., Thursday, June 25 at 8:30 p.m., Friday, June 26 at 8:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 27 at 4 p.m.

Since the inception of the festival in 2019, National Queer Theater has showcased 19 new works by visionary artists from Tanzania, Venezuela, Uganda, Iraq, China, Pakistan, Kenya, Ukraine, Cuba, Lebanon, and Poland. The festival is the official theater event of NYC Pride and a recipient of a NYC Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact Award as well as a 2025 Obie Award. It has been featured in The New York Times, The Advocate, and NBC News. The 2026 festival is in partnership with NYC Pride, Artistic Freedom Initiative, Noor Theater, and the NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. Free tickets will be offered to LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in NYC through partner organizations.

National Queer Theater is the official theater event of NYC Pride. The festival is supported by generous funders including the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the JKW Foundation. The festival is made possible through collaboration with HERE Arts Center's HERE Hosts program.

National Queer Theater is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit harnessing the power of live performance to imagine a more just and joyful future. Working alongside social justice movements, the organization uplifts queer community through theater productions and education programs that celebrate free expression in the U.S. and around the world.

Key programs include the Obie Award-winning Criminal Queerness Festival and Staging Pride: Queer Youth Theater. For more information, visit National Queer Theater .

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/CRIMINAL-QUEERNESS-FESTIVAL-2026-to-Showcase-Palestinian-Egyptian-and-Syrian-American-Artists-at-HERE-Arts-Center-20260522)._