Set in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood once known as Little Syria (1880~1940), this genre-bridging performance - spanning Hip-Hop, Arabic instrumentation, and ḥakawātī oral storytelling traditions of the Levant - reimagines early 20th-century life in the heart of Arab-America. Just south of the current World Trade Center, this once vibrant cultural hub for New York’s Middle Eastern immigrants was home to artists and intellectuals including Ameen Rihani and Kahlil Gibran. This concert performance of Little Syria, Omar Offendum’s creative retelling of a tragically underrepresented historical narrative, draws an audience attuned to stories of immigration, xenophobia, and the ever-evolving American dream.

Omar Offendum Website


Under the Radar is the United States' premier festival of experimental theater and performance art. As a long-time New York City-based platform for cutting-edge work hailing from around the globe. Produced by ArKtype with Festival Director Mark Russell, UTR has been reimagined in its 20th annual season as a city-wide celebration that incisively speaks to our moment. Rather than being tied to a single host institution, Under the Radar's current iteration is curated collaboratively with an array of renowned arts organizations and curators, each harnessing the connective nature of the festival format to introduce some of the world's most innovative multidisciplinary voices to wider audiences. The 2025 edition of UTR will include over 33 distinct programs at 24 theater spaces, presenting more than 250 performances in only 16 days from January 4 to 19. The depth, breadth and excellence of this year's festival serves as proof that collaboration can power the American theater through this era of existential crisis into a reinvigorated future of conjoined artists ready to embrace diversity, challenge and reinvention.

Staff Festival Founder + Director:  Mark Russell 
Co-Creative Director/Producer-in-Residence:  Meropi Peponides 
Co-Creative Director/Artist-in-Residence:  Kaneza Schaal 
Festival Producer:  Thomas O. Kriegsmann & Sami Pyne | ArKtype 
Producer, Symposium & Coming Attractions:  Iyvon E. 
Producer, Marketing & Public Programs:  Bryn Herdrich 
Director of Development:  Kendall Masson 
Director of Production:  Brian Freeland 
Marketing and Communications Strategy:  Sapphire Stubbs | general population 
Communications Manager, Copywriting & Strategy: John Seroff | GreenHouse Publicity Digital 
Engagement and Social Media Lead:  FAILSPACE 
Press Representation: Blake Zidell & Adriana Leshko | Blake Zidell & Associates 
Website Design: Abigail Browde 
Producing Fellow: Joy Chen 
Dramaturgy Fellow: Anastasia Ellis 
Artist & Presenter Services Fellow: Carolina Hurtado Castro 
Public Programs Fellow: Margot Anderson-Song

More info at utrfest.org

Photo Credit: Ridwan Adhami