Sharifa Yazmeen (she/her) is a trans Arab-American playwright and director whose work explores the intersection of Queer and Arab identities while speaking to the heartbeat of humanity. Through both writing and directing, she is drawn to stories that uplift voices too often pushed to the margins.
As a director, Sharifa holds an MFA in Directing from Brown/Trinity Rep and has completed fellowships with Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Geva Theatre, and was a Eugene O’Neill National Directing Fellow. Favorite directing projects include Close to Home (Pillsbury House + Theatre), Disgraced (American Stage), The War Boys (Hangar Theatre), 3:59 AM (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Babel (Contemporary American Theater Festival), and Beirut (Brown/Trinity Rep).
As a playwright, her work has been published in Overheard, a collection of monologues by and for TNB2S+ artists, Faces of America Monologues, and both volumes of The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays. Her plays have been produced or developed with Playwrights Foundation, Amphibian Stage, Women’s Theatre Festival, American Blues Theatre, Pillsbury House + Theatre, and others, and have been taught at DePaul University, Susquehanna University, and the University of Kansas. Her play Close to Home was recognized by the American Theatre Wing at the Antoinette Gala, included on the 2023 Kilroy’s List, selected for the 2023 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the 2024 National New Play Showcase, and premiered at Pillsbury House + Theatre in 2025. Most recently, her play Bone by Bone was selected for the 2025 MixFest at Atlantic Theater Company and the 2026 Great Plains Theatre Festival.
Sharifa is the inaugural recipient of the SCDF Barbara Whitman Award (2021) and the Abe Burrows Award (2024), and is a Jerome Fellow in Playwriting at the Playwrights’ Center.
