Muslim Writers Collective
Chain Mainstage | 312 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018
I love the unexpected, especially when it starts the moment I get on the elevator. My elevator mate was also seeing a Fringe show but had no ideas about what the Fringe is about. He saw a posting for Muslim Writers Collective and bought a ticket. He said “I’ll follow you since you know where you are going.” That’s the truth. I have mastered travelling from venue to venue so to to settle into a cultural experience and simply be in it., yes, please, and thank you. Tonight offered exactly that. My new friend visiting from Stockholm and I sat down with zero expectations.
Originally, Azhar was slated to perform his solo piece, Becoming Hamdan Azhar, but instead, he opened the evening into something more expansive, sharing not only his own work but also creating space for three Muslim women storytellers to take the stage, members of the Muslim Writers Collective, founded by Hamdan Azhar and Ayisha Irfan.
Through comedy, spoken word, and prose, the evening unfolded as a tapestry of stories rooted in pilgrimage, friendship, and the layered experience of being Muslim, with reflections touching on Palestine and Pakistan. Each performer brought a distinct rhythm and lens, shifting seamlessly between the intimate and the communal. The comedy carried a playful, grounded energy, weaving in Ramadan, the joys and absurdities of travel, dinosaurs (yes, dinosaurs), pistachios, and even Boeing. It was delightfully unpredictable, like a conversation that keeps surprising you just when you think you’ve found its pattern.
The spoken word pieces reached somewhere more celestial and critical at once, exploring constellations, consumerism, and the quiet negotiations of identity. There were references to Umran, Labaik, and Saudi Arabia that added texture and specificity, inviting the audience into both personal and cultural landscapes. What emerged was not just a performance, but a gathering, one that balanced humor with introspection, and offered a nuanced, lived-in understanding of culture, faith, and everyday life.
Review by Malini Singh McDonald.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 16, 2026. All rights reserved.
