March 23 - April 8
Overview
A Riveting New Sports Drama
Pay What You Will Thursdays
To keep live performance affordable and accessible to our community, we’re offering Pay What You Will Thursdays for all Mainstage shows at the Waldron and Ted Jones Playhouse! Book tickets for one of our Thursday performances of American Fast and you’ll get to choose your own ticket price (from $5-$75). Just select your seats, then you’ll be prompted to choose your ticket price.
Pay What You Will Thursdays and our Community Access Ticket Program are generously sponsored by Jessika and Bryan Hane.
A Conversation with the Director & Playwright
Join us for a conversation with American Fast‘s director, Reena Dutt, and playwright, Kareem Fahmy, directly following the matinee performance on Saturday, March 25 at 3:45pm at the Ted Jones Playhouse. We’ll be discussing the play’s themes, development, and giving you an inside look at the production process. Anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of what performance you attend!
Resources
Interested in learning more about Ramadan, Islam, Egyptian Culture, or Women’s Basketball? Click here to download our study guide!
Teaser
Creative Team
- Playwright: Kareem Fahmy
- Director: Reena Dutt
- Stage Manager: Tabitha Burton
- Scenic Designer: Xinyuan Li
- Lighting Designer: Azra King-Abadi
- Costume Designer: Kathryn Rohe
- Sound Designer: M. Glenn Schuster
- Projection Designer: Cinthia Chen
- Props Master: Aubrey Krueger
- Lead Props Artisan : Barb Steininger
- Community Consultant: Sherouk Asaad Ahmed
- Dialect Consultant: Denmo Ibrahim
- Assistant Stage Manager: Katie Ayer
- Run Crew: Jack Coleman

Kareem Fahmy
Playwright
Kareem Fahmy is a Canadian-born playwright and director of Egyptian descent. He received the 2022 Woodward/Newman Playwriting Award (for American Fast), a NYSCA/NYFA Playwriting Fellowship, the Janet Sloane Literature Residency at Yaddo, is a two-time finalist for the National Showcase of New Plays, and was named a Rising Leader of Color by TCG. American Fast is receiving a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Artists Repertory Theatre, City Theatre, and InterAct Theatre. A Distinct Society is receiving a co-world premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and Pioneer Theatre. Dodi & Diana (O’Neill NPC Finalist) received a world premiere at Colt Coeur. Other plays include Pareidolia, The In-Between, and an adaptation of the acclaimed novel The Yacoubian Building. Commissions: Artists Repertory Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan, Colt Coeur. Co-founder/Chair of the Middle Eastern American Writers Lab. MFA (Theatre Directing), Columbia. www.kareemfahmy.com

Reena Dutt
Director
Reena Dutt is a city girl with a country soul who believes in creating with a conscience. She is dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories with the bodies, voices and life experiences of the underheard. She most recently finished her Broadway debut on The Collaboration at MTC as Assistant Director to Kwame Kwei-Armah of the Young Vic in London. Upcoming: Yellow Face (UC Riverside), This is Not a True Story (Artists At Play). New York: Columbia University, Playwrights Realm, A.R.T. West Coast: Coeurage Ensemble, UC Riverside, Greenway Court Theatre, East West Players, Sacred Fools. Assistant/Associate Director: The Public, The Fountain Theatre, Geffen Playhouse. Fellowships: Drama League NY Directing Fellow, LCT Directors Lab, Directors Lab West. Dutt is also a film director and producer having screened films at over 80 festivals worldwide including Sundance, LAFF, Outfest, Frameline, Cucalorous, NBCUniversal, BET, PBS/Latino and HBO.

Sherouk Asaad Ahmed
Community Consultant
Sherouk (she/her) is an Egyptian-American native of Charlotte, NC. She is fluent in Arabic, fish whispering, and proficient in cat and bunny whispering. Sherouk is a neuro-divergent, always caffeinated rogue academic who enjoys public speaking as well as hiding from everyone she knows. If you do happen to come across her, she can read your natal chart. She resides in Bloomington, IN with her fellow academic honeybun.
Cast

Victoria Nassif (she/her)
Khady

Austin Michael Young (he/him)
Gabe
Austin Michael Young is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of sharing this story with you all. He has been acting for over 10 years. His recent roles were in Fucking A by Suzan Lori Parks and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He can also be seen in an episode of Black Mirror on Netflix. He sends his deepest gratitude to his partner Kelly who continues to love and support him on his actor’s journey.

TayLar (she/her)
Coach
TayLar is excited for her Constellation Stage & Screen debut in American Fast. She was last seen as Abby Brewster in Chicago’s Court Theatre production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Other Court productions include: King Hedley, II and Oedipus Rex. Additional notable productions/theatres include: Gem of The Ocean, Sweat, The Little Foxes, Ruined, The Convert, Mary, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and The Cook (Goodman Theatre); (Asolo Repertory Theatre), (Eclipse Theatre), (Manhattan Theatre Club), (Writers’ Theatre), (Steppenwolf Theatre), (Black Ensemble Theatre) (Erasing the Distance) and (ETA Theatre). Television appearances include: Saint X, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Empire, The Chi, and NeXt. Film credits include: Heist 88, Southside With You (the Obama movie), Teacher, and Ms. White Light. TayLar can be seen in numerous commercials and is repped by DDO Artists Agency. She sends Much Love and gratitude to God and her family and friends for their support!

Haneen Arafat Murphy (she/her)
Suzan
Haneen Arafat Murphy lives in South Orange, NJ and has spent her life as a creative and performer. She began her career as a dancer in the pre-professional program at TCU, in her native Fort Worth. Drawn to broadcast media, she moved to New York, and was among the founding program directors at Sirius Radio. Her national campaigns as a voice actor include Pringles, Delta, Walmart and Ford. Recent theatrical work includes Twelfth Night (a Perry Award® nominee), When We Were Young And Unafraid, and Esther & Vashti. Haneen is thrilled to be in Bloomington with Constellation Stage & Screen!