John El-Jor's VILLAGE RELIGION to Receive Reading Directed by George Abud

The play follows a young queer Christian Arab from Lebanon who leaves his village for New York City, with a cast including Mona Mansour and Olivia Puckett.

By: Stephi Wild Nov. 02, 2026

John El-Jor's VILLAGE RELIGION to Receive Reading Directed by George Abud

Village Religion, a new play by Drama Desk nominee John El-Jor, will receive an invite-only 29-hour reading on November 9th at Open Jar Studios.

Village Religion is directed by George Abud (Lempika, The Band's Visit, Spring Awakening) and will feature John El-Jor (Mean Girls, We Live in Cairo, American Idol), Michael Graceffa (Fire Island), Ahmad Maher (The Interrogator), Mona Mansour (Beautiful Little Fool), April Matthis (Mary Jane), (Olivia Puckett (Dear Evan Hansen), and David Matar Merten (An Enemy of the People).

The play follows a young, Queer, Christian Arab from Lebanon in search of something new. Something greater.. Something maybe in...New York City? After a night of tragedy ensues inside a gay club in Beirut, a young man breaks from his small-town village of ancestral churches, loud mothers, and sociocultural pressures, for a world of gay bars, twinks with bad haircuts, and...wow-could it be? A white man. Village Religion asks: Do all countries shrink as all people expand? Should someone trade their entire past for the advertisement of a future? And what belongs to me, when I belong to nowhere?

The reading is produced by Carly Cooper. If interested, please contact the Village Religion team.