Cast, Creative Team Complete for AN ORDINARY MUSLIM at New York Theatre Workshop

New York Theatre Workshop has announced the full cast and creative team for the World Premiere of An Ordinary Muslim, by NYTW Usual Suspect and 2017-18 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence Hammaad Chaudry (Salaam, Mr. Bush), directed by NYTW Usual Suspect and Obie Award winner Jo Bonney (The Body of An American).

Previews for An Ordinary Muslim begin February 7, 2018 with an opening night set for February 26, 2018 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 E. 4th Street New York, NY 10003), playing through March 11, 2018.

The cast for An Ordinary Muslim includes Purva Bedi (Idiot) as "Saima Khan," Angel Desai (PEER GYNT & the Norwegian Hapa Band) as "Javeria Bhatti-Mirza," Sanjit De Silva (Troilus and Cressida) as "Azeem Bhatti," Andrew Hovelson (The Father) as "David Adkins," Harsh Nayyar (Chief Zabu) as "Irman Jameel," Sathya Sridharan (The Winter's Tale) as "Hamza Jameel," Bernard White ("Silicon Valley") as "Akeel Bhatti," and Rita Wolf (The Rug Dealer) as "Malika Bhatti."

AN ORDINARY MUSLIM will feature scenic design by Neil Patel (Time and the Conways), costume design by Susan Hilferty (Buried Child), lighting design by Lap Chi Chu(The Wolves), sound design by Elisheba Ittoop (Stuffed), and fight direction by Thomas Schall (Six Degrees of Separation). Stephen Gabis (Indecent) will serve as dialect coach, with Stage Management by Lori Ann Zepp (Daphne's Dive).

Balancing the high expectations of the previous generation, the doctrines of their Muslim community, and the demands of secular Western culture, Azeem Bhatti and his wife Saima struggle to straddle the gap between their Pakistani heritage and their British upbringing. Making his professional debut, playwright Hammaad Chaudry explores what it means to be An Ordinary Muslim. Obie Award winner Jo Bonney directs.

The 2017/18 season began with the New York premiere of Mary Jane by NYTW Usual Suspect and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Amy Herzog (4000 Miles, Belleville), directed by NYTW Usual Suspect and two-time Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Sundown, Yellow Moon; A Life); and will continue with a new production directed by NYTW Usual Suspect, Tony Award nominee, and three-time Obie Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) of LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, by NYTW Usual Suspect and five-time Obie Award winner Caryl Churchill (Love and Information; A Number); and the New York Premiere of THE HOUSE THAT WILL NOT STAND by Marcus Gardley (X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation), directed by NYTW Usual Suspect and Obie Award winner Lileana Blain-Cruz (Red Speedo; The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World).

Currently playing at NYTW is HUNDRED DAYS, with a book by The Bengsons (Iphigenia in Aulis) and Sarah Gancher (The Place We Built), music and lyrics by The Bengsons, direction by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane), and movement direction by Obie Award winner Sonya Tayeh (you'll still call me by name).HUNDRED DAYS plays through December 31, 2017.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Purva Bedi (Saima Khan) is an actress of film, television and stage and also a deviser of new work. Theatre: Uncommon Sense (Tectonic Theatre Project), Idiot (HERE), Veil'd (Women's Project), There or Here (Hypothetical Theater), Parts & Parts of Stitches (MTWorks), The Rise of Dorothy Hale (St. Luke's), East is East (Manhattan Theater Club & New Group). As an Associate Artist with Target Margin Theatre: Reread Another, The Tempest, Second Language, Ten Blocks on the Camino Real, Old Comedy, These Very Serious Jokes, The 5 Hysterical Girls Theorem, The Seagull, Sonoma. Film: Sully, Equity, Kumare, Cosmopolitan, Green Card Fever, American Desi. TV: "Madam Secretary," "Person of Interest," "Law & Order: SVU," "Nurse Jackie," "The Good Wife," "Unforgettable." Purva hosted "Natural Reboot" for ZeeLiving and co-created the upcoming web series "Shrinkage." Other upcoming theatre in 2018 includes Dance Nation at Playwrights Horizons and Assembled Identity at HERE Arts Center. Purva is a founding member of Disha Theatre and a member of The Actor's Center Workshop Company. She studied at Williams College, The British American Drama Academy and The Public Theatre Shakespeare Lab.

Angel Desai (Javeria Bhatti-Mirza). Recent theater: Peer Gynt and the Norwegian Hapa Band (Ma-Yi Theater), Scenes From Court Life, or, the whipping boy and his princeby Sarah Ruhl (Yale Rep, world premiere). Broadway: Company (2006, Tony Award, Best Revival of a Musical). Off-Broadway includes: CSC, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public/NYSF, Women's Project, Ma-Yi, MCC, others. Regional includes: George St. Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Festival, Old Globe, McCarter Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse, Yale Repertory, Long Wharf, Arena Stage, Playmakers Repertory. Recent TV: "Chicago Med," "Minority Report," "Madam Secretary," "Major Crimes," "Forever," "Elementary," "Nurse Jackie," "Being Mary Jane," "Damages." Video games: "Gears of War 4" (President Jinn, voice). Film: The Clique, The War Within, Heights, Black Knight, and Robot Stories. Recipient: 2017 NYU Diversity Faculty Mentorship, 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow. 52nd Street Project volunteer. MFA in Acting from NYU.

Sanjit De Silva (Azeem Bhatti) was last seen Off-Broadway in the role of "Aeneas" in Troilus and Cressida for Shakespeare in the Park and in the role of "Jeff Schrader" in The Public Theater's Dry Powder, opposite Claire Danes, John Krasinski, and Hank Azaria, directed by Tommy Kail. The role earned him Lucille Lortel and Outer Critic's Circle Award nominations for "Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play". Other credits include: Broadway: War Horse (Tony Award, Best Play). Off-Broadway: Macbeth, Measure for Measure(NYSF/Public Theater); Awake and Sing! (NAATCO); The Ragged Claws (Cherry Lane); The Little Foxes (NYTW). Regionally: The Cherry Orchard, A Midsummer Night's Dreamand Indian Ink. Film/TV: After Party, The Girl is in Trouble, The Company Men, August, Arranged, "Blindspot," "Time After Time," "Madam Secretary," "Blacklist," "Elementary," "High Maintenance," "Homeland," "Blue Bloods," "The Good Wife." M.F.A. NYU Graduate Acting.

Andrew Hovelson (David Adkins). Broadway: Lucky Guy (w/Tom Hanks), The Father (w/Frank Langella), An Enemy of the People (MTC). Off-Broadway: Tamburlaine the Great (TFANA), As You Like It (NYSF), Golden Age (MTC). World Premieres: You're Blues Ain't Sweet Like Mine written and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a cautionary tale by Christopher Oscar Pena, K.M.T. adapted by Keith Reddin. TV: "Shades of Blue," "Blue Bloods," "TURN: Washington's Spies," "The Mysteries of Laura," "Unforgettable," "The Good Wife," "ER." Film: Stranger in the Dunes (Official Selection 2017 Raindance Film Festival), Upcoming - The Magnificent Meyersons (starring Marlee Marlin). Training: M.F.A. NYU Graduate Acting, B.F.A. UMN/Guthrie Theater.

Harsh Nayyar (Irman Jameel). Broadway: A Meeting by the River. Regional: Homebody/Kabul at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom at The Culture Project in NYC, Studio Theatre in Washington DC, Brava Theatre in San Francisco and a Special Reading at the Sam Rayburn Annex in the US House of Representatives; BAM, La Mama, Vineyard Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, George Street Playhouse and NY Stage & Film. Films: Hidalgo (Yusuf), Gandhi (Godse, the Assassin), The Peacemaker (Dr. Taraki), Night & The City, Traffic, Men in Black, and Making Mr. Right. TV: "Vestige of Honor" (MOW), "Littlest Victims" (MOW), "Dark Angel," "Boston Legal," "Tattingers" and "Tales From The Dark Side." MFA, Graduate Acting, NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Sathya Sridharan (Hamza Jameel). Off-Broadway: The Winter's Tale (The Public Theater - Mobile Unit), Hamlet (Sheen Center), Ultimate Beauty Bible (Page 73),Frontieres Sans Frontieres (Bushwick Starr), This Is It How It Ends (59E59 Summer Shorts), Mechanics of Love (ToByFor Productions). Regional: Our Town (Portland Center Stage); Hapgood (Williamstown Theatre Festival); The Philadelphia Story, As You Like It (Chautauqua Theatre Company). Film: Bikini Moon, Dastaar (SXSW, IndyFest), Tourists(Nantucket, CAAM, NJFF), Open Roads (Nantucket). Television: "Blindspot," "The Blacklist" (NBC); "Madam Secretary" (CBS); and "Younger" (TV Land). Sathya was the 2013 Princess Grace Award Winner (Grace Le Vine Award) and is a proud volunteer at the 52nd Street Project. He is a native of St. Louis, MO. MFA: NYU.

Bernard White (Akeel Bhatti). Off-Broadway: The Tempest, The Death of Garcia Lorca (Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park); The Who and The What, Blood and Gifts (Lincoln Center Theater); Landscape of the Body (Signature); Sakharam Binder (Play Company). Regional: Disgraced (Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Rep., Seattle Rep.); The Clean House, Blithe Spirit, Lucy and the Conquest (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Troilus and Cressida, Henry V (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Art (East West Players); The Who and The What, The Seven, Dogeaters (La Jolla Playhouse); Wings of Desire (A.R.T., Toneelgroep Amsterdam). Film: Rebel in the Rye, The Strangeness You Feel, Miss India America, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Vino Veritas, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Quarantine, The World Unseen. Television: Showtime's "Homeland," HBO's "Silicon Valley" (4 seasons), ABC's "Square Roots," and over 100 more.

Rita Wolf (Malika Bhatti). Theater: Homeboy/Kabul premiere at NYTW, the Mark Taper Forum in LA, and BAM; The House of Bernarda Alba also at the Taper; and world premiere of A.R Gurney's O, Jerusalem at Flea Theater, NYC. Other U.S. theater includes several seasons with Lincoln Center Directors Lab, NYC. London theater includes Hanif Kureishi's Borderline (Royal Court/Joint Stock) and Sanctuary (also for Joint Stock); Vigilantes (Arts Theater); and Othello (Greenwich Theater). Regional U.K. Theater includesBeauty and the Beast (Birmingham), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Manchester), and Dick Whittington and Enemy of the People (Lancaster). Founding member, London-based KALI theater company. Film work includes: My Beautiful Launderette directed by Stephen Frears, Girl 6 directed by Spike Lee, Khush, The Chain directly by Jack Gold, Slipstream, and Wild Justice. TV includes "Law and Order." U.K. TV includes: "Tandoori Nights," "Coronation Street" (series regular), "Wing and A Prayer," "Calling the Shots," "Kavanagh QC," "Taggart," and "Second Generation" (Channel 4, U.K.).

New York Theatre Workshop, now in its fourth decade of incubating important new works of theatre, continues to honor its mission to explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape all our lives. Each season, from its home in New York's East Village, NYTW presents four new productions, over 80 readings and numerous workshop productions for over 45,000 audience members. NYTW supports artists in all stages of their careers by maintaining a series of workshop programs, including work-in-progress readings, summer residencies and artist fellowships. Since its founding, NYTW has produced over 100 new, fully staged works, including Jonathan Larson's Rent; Tony Kushner's Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul; Doug Wright's Quills; Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde; Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla; Martha Clarke's Vienna: Lusthaus; Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Far Away, A Number and Love and Information; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath; Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová and Enda Walsh's Once; Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher; David Bowie and Enda Walsh's Lazarus; Anaïs Mitchell'sHadestown; and eight acclaimed productions directed by Ivo van Hove. NYTW's productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, seventeen Tony Awards and assorted Obie, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards.

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