Jay Ellis is living out a childhood dream. He's starring in his first off-Broadway play, Duke & Roya, as Duke, an American hip-hop superstar. Jay says he has always wanted to rap.

"I used to make mixtapes with my homeboys when we were [in] middle school," he tells ABC Audio. "So it's actually a dream that I'm like getting to live."

Duke & Roya follows the story of Duke, an international rapper who meets Roya (Stephanie Nur) when he travels to Bagram Air Base in Kabul in 2017 to perform for American troops. The two open up about their cultural differences, with Roya admitting she dresses like a boy to get out at night and to go to school in a country where women getting an education is frowned upon.

Stephanie says it's this "empowering and unexpected" storyline that drew her to her character. "I love that she was a woman from the Middle East that turns down an arranged marriage," she says. "It's a storyline I haven't seen very often."

"I was really surprised by this character and, you know, the aspect that she is bacha posh, where she dresses up as a boy in order to get an education. That was fascinating to me," Stephanie says of Roya.

The play captures their love story, as well as what's happening in war-torn Afghanistan and their relationships with their parents — the only other members of the four-person cast.

Noma Dumezweni plays Duke's mother, Desiree; she says she loves her character's confidence and that she is a boy mom. As for Dariush Kashani, Roya's overprotective dad, he was simply excited to see how fans would react to the relatable role of being a parent.

"This is the thing that I think that the audiences are going to really get a lot out of," Dariush says.

Duke & Roya is now playing at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.