Casting Performers for "The Halal Brothers" Play
Performers wanted for "The Halal Brothers" play. Please find the details below. ONLY LOCAL TALENT WILL BE CONSIDERED. About the project: Set in Harlem on February 21, 1965, the play follows two Bengali Muslim immigrant brothers struggling to keep their small butcher shop afloat while preparing food for a gathering at the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X is scheduled to speak. As news from the Ballroom spreads, buried grief, divided loyalties, and conflicting ideas of race, faith, and belonging push the brothers toward an emotional reckoning on one of the most pivotal days in American history. Rate: $500/week minimum. Health & pension included. AEA Independent Theatre Contract. Additional info: One week rehearsal begins: November 3, 2026. Readings: November 6–8, 2026. If interested, please apply.
5 roles
From tiny village in East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) called Noahkali. He is a closet poet, impressionable, innocent full of life. He is in America to fulfill a promise he made to his brother. He must go to City College to get his degree to help out his older brother run the Halal store. The other part of that promise is once he has that degree they both will return to their village to have arranged marriages.
Older brother of Haroun. He arrived in America at 16 years old. He worked on a ship as a lowly tender shoveling coal in oppressive conditions. He was treated horribly and jumped ship. He arrived with no skills. Being illiterate the only job he was able to get was as a dishwasher and cook in a kitchen under horrible conditions working for racist bosses. He fell in love with a Black Puerto Rican as she encouraged him to open a store of his own.
Beautiful African American classmate of Haroun, born and raised in Harlem. She's a City College senior about to graduate. A 100 percent Harlem girl with a swagger and bounce in her step. She has just received her acceptance into City College Graduate program for Afro-American Studies. She is part of a new progressive movement to have African studies be part of the New York curriculum.
Older brother of Zuleka. A former Columbia University student that got kicked out for constantly protesting the Ivy league's Eurocentric curriculum. He has joined Malcolm X's congregation and been a loyal sidekick to him. He is part of the Malcolm X's new organization the OAAU (organization of Afro American Unity). He is constantly trying to get people to attend Malcolm’s speeches in hopes of recruiting members.
Puerto Rican (More on the Nuyorican side). Lovable, sweet, heart of gold Mohammed's first and oldest friend in NY. He is a Korean War vet suffering from PTSD. Mohammed urges Jose not to mention his late sister who was the love of his life. Mohammed wants no reminders of the past despite Jose mentioning her occasionally. Jose is the only one who knows of Mohammed's secret but can feel the dilemma Haroun is in. Jose wants to just be connected to anyone because he has no one.
RELATED CASTING CALLS
