New Play Reading in NYC Hosted by USF
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is proud to announce a reading of a new play The United States vs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on Monday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. at The Tank, 312 W. 36th Street in New York City. The play is by emerging playwright Jacob A. Greenberg and will be directed by Hassan Al Rawas.
This thrilling, morally and politically complex drama tells the story of the lawyers who volunteered to defend the man who planned 9/11 attacks and those who rose up to oppose them. It’s daring, powerful, often hilarious––and it all happens to be true.
“It’s always exciting to work with a new playwright on a new, important play,” says Utah Shakespeare Festival Interim Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development Derek Charles Livingston. “In the case of The United States Versus Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, I knew when I read it that Jake (playwright Jacob A. Greenberg) was writing in the grand, epic, theatrical, and historical scale similar to All the Way or The Grapes of Wrath. What I appreciated is the sharp dialogue, complex characters, and the moral question at the center of this play. We’ve spent two years developing it, including a Zoom reading a year ago. Even though we’re based in Utah, the natural next step, to take the play to the next level, was an in-person reading in New York City. I’m excited to hear Jake’s words, under Hassan’s direction, and with this cast – man!, this cast!”
As of April 10, 2023, the cast of The United States vs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed features Santino Fontana, Rajesh Bose, Peter Gerety, Peter Francis James, Tasha Lawrence, Eliott Johnson, Joe Forbrich, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Marielle Issa.
Director Hassan Al Rawas is a Beirut, Lebanon-based director who has directed with the Quintessence Theatre Company in Philadelphia, assisted directed the premiere production of Jennifer Silverman’s Witch, and, from June 2019 through January 2021, served as the assistant director of The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical. He has also directed Arabic language productions of The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth in Kuwait.
The reading is by invitation only, but inquiries can be directed to USvsKSM@gmail.com.
