←Recommendations of Mosque4Mosque

This play gets you - deceptively funny until it is not. Such a warm, rich world of complex, destructive, fiercely loving characters. Hope to see it fully produced soon!

Was lucky enough to see a production of this play last year and loved every moment. Great characters, unapologetically queer, beautiful monologues and a powerful, inevitable ending that sneaks up on you. Love this play, produce it far and wide.

I was lucky enough to see a production of MOSQUE4MOSQUE with About Face Theatre. The play is full of beautifully written characters who are grounded in reality and tackles important - and sometimes heavy - subject matter. It's funny, serious, and all points in between. I look forward to reading and seeing more of work by Omer Abbas Salem.

I saw Steppenwolf's virtual reading of this play in 2021 and About Face Theatre's world premiere a few days ago. What stood out to me in both iterations is the deftness and lightness with which this play deals with some very heavy subjects and how carefully and expansively it represents the difficulties of being a child of immigrants and being an immigrant parent. None of these characters are morally spotless, but the wonderful depth, complexity and, often, humor of Mosque4Mosque comes from the friction between their motives and their methods. I would happily see another production!

MOSQUE4MOSQUE’s compelling protagonist, Ibrahim, is a self-destructive millennial desperate to understand himself. Assimilation doesn’t feel right, but neither does strict adherence to Islam. He loves his white boyfriend, but knows there’s a part of him he’ll never understand. He resents and fiercely loves his mother, and he alternately wants his sister Lena to be his friend or his child.

M4M defies categorization: it’s a queer play, an immigrant play, a family play—ultimately, it’s a story about the complexities of love and identity, with an ending that’s a call to action.

This is a play that needs to be produced everywhere. The Arab American Muslim experience is not a monolith and the American theatre needs to be ready to produce work that proves this. Heartwarming, terrifying and hilarious.

A phenomenal piece of Arab American theatre, truly bringing to life the modern day with the well-meaning parents who need to make our lives picture perfect. With great humor, we tackle deep matters and the Trump's America we live in. Well done!

I was really caught off guard by this wonderful play. This family-oriented drama about a son struggling with his mother's demands has great characters and particularly touching relationships between Ibrahim and his boyfriend and Ibrahim and his sister, but as in reality, the greater world intrudes on these people in a way that forces them all to consider what their identities really mean to them. All of the characters are real and specific, never cliched. Generous doses of humor enliven the drama without ever feeling forced. An achievement that really speaks to our times.

I was initially drawn in by the BRILLIANT title of this play, but it’s the way Omer Abbas Salem takes an almost sitcom-esque approach to tackling heavy issues like sexuality, religion, intergenerational conflict, and immigration that kept me reading. Mosque4Mosque contains laugh-out-loud moments right next to heartbreaking ones; these are the kinds of queer stories we need to be producing now!

I thoroughly enjoyed following each character's journey in this complex play with a keen eye towards the way one's intersectional identity may shape their life. Equal parts hilarious and poignant, "Mosque4Mosque" explores impactful collisions of nationality, faith/religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, and age. Omer Abbas Salem also renders a dynamic theatrical world that makes good use of transitions in space and time and leaves much room for designers and directors to leave their imprint on how it might be realized on its feet. I hope to have the chance to keep track of this play's trajectory!