the halal Brothers

by Alaudin Ullah

At Universalist National Memorial Church

November 6 – 8, 2026

Part of this year’s

Voices From a Changing Nation series

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SYNOPSIS | CREATIVE TEAM

SYNOPSIS

Three workshop readings of the latest from award winning filmmaker, comedian and playwright/performer, Alaudin Ullah, creator of DISHWASHER DREAMS. Set in Harlem on February 21, 1965, THE HALAL BROTHERS follows Mohammed and Haroun, two Bengali Muslim immigrant brothers struggling to keep afloat through their small butcher shop while preparing food for a gathering at the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X is scheduled to speak – and where he is eventually murdered. Illiterate and overworked, Mohammed has sacrificed everything to bring his younger brother to America to attend City College, hoping Haroun will earn a business degree and build a future for the family and the store. But Haroun is secretly in love with Zuleika, an African American student who represents a life far different from the one his brother imagines for him. As news from the Audubon Ballroom spreads throughout Harlem, 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.