January 24–25, 2020
Written by Khadeeja Ahmed, Edzhane Bills, Maryna Isho, Justin Morris, Patricia Ritacco, Idalia Rizvic, Bill Voler, and Zoey Walsh
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
A presentation of short plays written by new playwrights who participated in Silk Road Rising’s EPIC (Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course) residencies in Summer and Fall 2019. Writers are middle school and high school students or older adults whose plays shed light on the challenges and issues that Chicago youngest and eldest residents face.
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Read MoreDecember 14–17, 2019
Written by Abbas Abdulamir, Sophia Awuzie, Supie Dunbar, Leila Harris, Linda Hendelman, Kathleen Kelly, Bina Mangattukattil, Collette Martin-Wilde, Evelyn Miks, Halle Quezada, and Naomi Sufiran
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
West Ridge Story Festival features original plays written by residents of this ethnically, racially, religiously, and economically diverse Chicago neighborhood. We invite you to visit West Ridge and discover the narratives of those who call these 3.5 square miles on the city’s far north side their home.
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Read MoreOctober 22–24, 2019
Written and Performed by Priya Mohanty
Directed by Reshmi Rustebakke
How did a celebration with roots in multiple religions become a unifying force in India? What are the traditions that make it so rich? Enter the world of Jo, an Indian immigrant in America facing her first Diwali after the loss of her mother. Join her in lighting a diya to dispel the world’s darkness.
Read MoreOctober 1–November 10, 2019
The World Premiere
Co-Produced with International Voices Project
Written by Fouad Teymour
Directed by Patrizia Acerra
In this 100-minute comedy, three Muslim women confront adultery and polygamy when one of their husbands marries a second wife. Friendship, fidelity, and faith are called into question as each woman reevaluates bonds once believed unbreakable, and discovers humor amongst the heartbreak.
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Read MoreJuly 14–15, 2019
Written by Emilia Kazumova
Adapted by Zarema Zautdinova
Poetry by Alexandra Shilyaeva
Translated from Russian by Graham Schmidt
Directed by Adrianne Cury
Fleeing domestic violence, rape, and deception, three women find refuge in a squalid apartment in the Izmailovo district of Moscow. Based on the personal life of playwright Emilia Kazumova and anecdotal stories that she collected, The Izmailovo Studio explores the pursuit of personal dignity against patriarchal torment.
Performed as part of Staging the Stans
Read MoreJuly 13–14, 2019
Written by Olzhas Zhanaydarov
Translated from Russian by John Freedman
Directed by Jeremy Aluma
Based on real events, Olzhas Zhanaydarov’s The Store exposes the brutal torment of a Kazakh migrant working in Moscow. Public indifference and a corrupt police force silence young victims lured from their homeland by a Kazakh trafficker. Promises of money, citizenship, and family reunification set the stage for a life of indentured servitude and abuse, a reality rationalized by religious interpretations of master and slave.
Performed as part of Staging the Stans
Read MoreJuly 12–13, 2019
Written by Talgat Batalov
Adapted by Yekaterina Bondarenko
Translated from Russian by John Freedman
Directed by Sami Ismat
In Talgot Batalov’s Uzbek, the tales of Central Asian immigrants become fodder for a stand-up comedy routine. The ironies, dangers, paradoxes, and absurdities of moving from one culture to another are satirized in this intrepid tribute to human resilience. Uzbek avoids cliches and partisanship, insisting instead that everything cuts two ways.
Performed as part of Staging the Stans
Read MoreJune 8–9, 2019
Written by Jacqueline Corral, Diego Del Carmen, Francisco G., Zacharie Hadj-Mohamed, Tyriana Jones, Ingrid Mares, Melanie Molina, Grace Neely, Jesus Vicente Ramos, Olivia Shumaker, Briseyda Torres, Doris Wolff, and Mary Yoon
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
A presentation of short plays written by new playwrights who participated in Silk Road Rising’s EPIC (Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course) residencies in Spring 2019. Writers are middle school and high school students or older adults whose plays shed light on the challenges and issues that Chicago youngest and eldest residents face.
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Read MoreMarch 11–April 7, 2019
The World Premiere
Co-Produced with Stage Left Theatre
Written and Performed by Karim Nagi
Directed by Anna C. Bahow
This one-man musical, co-produced with Stage Left Theatre, takes us on an alternative tour of the Arab World & Arab America. Using lyrics, percussion & an urban soundscape, master storyteller and musician Karim Nagi guides us through a social and political labyrinth, extolling the virtues of revolution, immigration, and hummus along the way.
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Read MoreFebruary 9–10, 2019
Written by Marcel Carter, Susan Cisneros, Destiny Mendez, Shavez Rodgers, Diamond Torres, Lakyla Turner, and Taylor Woods
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
EPIC Showcase is a compilation of short plays written by middle school and high school students that shed light on the challenges and issues Chicago youth face. The readings are performed by actors from the Silk Road Rising community.
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Read MoreNovember 30–December 11, 2018
A Workshop Production
Adapted and Directed by Corey Pond
Music Direction by Emma Hospelhorn
Choir Direction by Erik Nussbaum
Christmas Mubarak is a first-of-its-kind musical/theatre interplay of the Quranic and New Testament stories that celebrates the miraculous birth, life, and ascension of Jesus. This festive holiday performance features actors from our Silk Road communities and choir members from the First United Methodist Church at The Chicago Temple.
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Co-Produced with
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Performed as part of Name of Festival
Read MoreOctober 6–7, 2018
Co-Produced with A-Squared Theatre
Written by Preston Choi
Directed by Brian Balcom
As Louise prepares a TEDx Talk on the Migratory Patterns of the North American Monarch Butterfly, her three sons are on the hunt to find their father so they can avoid being drafted into the Korean army. Part nature documentary, part TED Talk, A Great Migration maps one family's search for identity, unity, and a destination they are reluctant to embrace.
Read MoreAugust 18–19, 2018
Written by Stan Lai
Translated from Chinese by Stan Lai with assistance by Tian Hongyi
Directed by Helen Young
Nightingale’s husband has been missing for nearly two decades. She’s convinced that he was abducted by aliens and will return on the twentieth anniversary of his disappearance. As Nightingale grows increasingly invested in her fantasies, her daughter and colleague grapple with an unsettling possibility: What if her husband doesn’t come back?
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising’s New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from the Chinese Speaking World
Read MoreAugust 11–12, 2018
Written by Gao Xingjian
Translated from Chinese by Gilbert C. F. Fong
Directed by Carol Ann Tan
Two strangers find themselves stranded outside of both time and place with only each other for company. Consumed by their personal loneliness, neither is able to truly listen to what the other has to say. Trapped in the existential crisis that follows a hook-up, their frustrations begin leading them down a path of mutual self-destruction.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising’s New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from the Chinese Speaking World
Read MoreAugust 4–5, 2018
Written by Ruoxin Xu
Directed by Helen Young
On the eve of Chinese New Year, Dan is finally returning to China after several years in the U.S. But before the Tang family can celebrate a reunion, they must first confront their national, cultural, and political differences if they are to understand why Dan is really back—and why he immigrated to America in the first place.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising’s New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from the Chinese Speaking World
Read MoreMay 17- 27, 2018
A Workshop Production
Written and Performed by Anu Bhatt
Directed by Barbara Zahora
Anu Bhatt combines the personal with the poetic in her one-woman show about depression, body image, and confronting sexual abuse. Seeking to balance and embrace two identities, Bhatt explores her South Asian American background with courage and insightful humor. A mix of raw memories, lyricism and tough truths, Hollow/Wave is a daring dance for empowerment through a sea of imperfection.
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Read MoreApril 19, 2018
Written by Jamil Khoury
Directed by Michael Menendian
Set in Naperville, Illinois, Obstacle Course explores reactions to a proposed Islamic Community Center on the site of a beloved landmark. Allyship, municipal politics, and Islamophobia all intersect in this head-on collision between Not in My Backyard fear mongering, well-intentioned liberalism, and the peaceful practice of faith.
Performed as part of RIOTCon 2018
Read MoreMarch 7–April 15, 2018
The World Premiere
Written by Novid Parsi
Directed by Carin Silkaitis
Having fled Iran where he was imprisoned for being a gay man, a damaged Razi arrives at his sister's doorstep in Chicago only to disrupt the life she and her American husband built together. As the Chicago Cubs vie to make history, rivalries of a different kind simmer in the Uptown two-flat that Razi tries to call home. With echoes of A Streetcar Named Desire, Novid Parsi's world premiere drama probes the boundaries between family, loss, prejudice, and desire.
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Read MoreFebruary 3–4, 2018
Written by Mehdi Moradpour
Translated from German by Neil Blackadder
Directed by Sami Ismat
German Iranian playwright Mehdi Moradpour’s Pure Land, nominated for the Munich Prize for German Drama, traces the story of Tara, a pregnant Middle Eastern woman seeking political asylum amidst crippling bureaucracy and crumbling relationships. Neil Blackadder’s translation captures the poetry that won Moradpour the prestigious exil-DramatikerInnenpreis, a German theatre award for outstanding playwrights-in-exile.
Pure Land pits a torturous past against an uncertain future with sobering effect.
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