‘Not Exactly a Nun’; Not Exactly What You Expected

What happens when the woman who has spent years making audiences laugh at cultural expectations turns the joke, and the spotlight, on herself?

For Yasmin Elhady, the answer is Not Exactly a Nun, a funny, fearless, and deeply personal one-woman show now at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for only five performances this fall.

Comedian, attorney, and co-host of Hulu’s Muslim Matchmaker, Elhady has made a career out of finding the funny in the complicated spaces between faith, family, love and belonging. This is her first solo theater show, and no one — perhaps even Elhady herself — was prepared for the intimacy of the moment.

Born in Egypt and raised in Alabama, Elhady has collected more than a few identities along the way: daughter, immigrant, lawyer, Muslim, wife, mother, matchmaker, comedian. Not Exactly a Nun takes those labels out for a spin, examining which ones fit, which ones don’t, and what happens when the fairy tale you were promised turns out to be more complicated than advertised.

The result is storytelling with bite, heart, and plenty of laughs.

Elhady’s Muslim identity is part of the story, but it isn’t the whole story. Rather than making her hijab a punchline, she uses comedy to explore the wonderfully messy business of being a person: navigating family expectations, motherhood, relationships, ambition, faith, and the occasional spectacular mismatch between the life you imagined and the life you actually got.

The production is presented by Story District in association with Woolly Mammoth, with Elhady writing and performing, Ryan Cunningham directing, and Story District founder Amy Saidman producing and dramaturging. It’s a natural pairing: Story District has built its reputation around turning lived experience into compelling storytelling, while Woolly Mammoth has long made room for theatrical voices that refuse to fit neatly inside the box.

NOT EXACTLY A NUN
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Rehearsal Hall
641 D Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

Performances: Sept. 25, 26 and Oct. 2, 3 and 4
An ASL-interpreted performance is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.

Presented by Story District in association with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.