Dima Mikhayel Matta has written about her home city before with language like “In Beirut, the streets smell of jasmine and coffee, and the morning call to prayer mingles with church bells.” Was it lyrical?
Yes, Matta, a queer playwright from Lebanon, said during a recent video interview. Was it also rosy? Yes. “In the past, I was writing short stories that romanticized Beirut,” she said, “because it’s ‘poetic,’ right?” Matta’s autobiographical play, “This is not a memorized script, this is a well-rehearsed story,” is one of three making its New York premiere this week as part of the National Queer Theater’s Criminal Queerness Festival, which presents innovative new stories by L.G.B.T.Q.