Performance Dates
July 6, 2012 - 2016
Venue
Various
Inspired by the 2010 “ground zero mosque” controversy in New York City, playwright and Silk Road Rising co-founder, Jamil Khoury, set out to investigate resistance to the building of mosques in communities across the U.S., and the intersections of Islamophobia, zoning, and public policy. Khoury developed a nine-step process that includes digital and live theatre components, and invites virtual and live audiences to weigh in on artistic decision-making and matters of civic importance. This first-of-its-kind initiative crowd sources its creative processes and encourages open, unfiltered public dialogue.
The project boasted two video essays, twenty four character video blogs, and nine conflict scene videos. The videos have been engaged by over 12,000 people around the world and have been screened at numerous colleges and universities, often before audiences of several hundred people. To date, over 400 virtual participants have engaged with the material on the Silk Road Rising website, on YouTube, and via private emails. Participants have responded to questions posed and have posted their own comments and questions to which Khoury has responded.
Screenings/Presentations
Beginning in the summer of 2012, playwright Jamil Khoury delivered over fifty Mosque Alert related presentations at the institutions and organizations listed below. These presentations typically included screenings of videos created to serve the play's development, most notably the compilation video "Meet Mosque Alert." The often robust, sometimes contentious conversations that occurred during these presentations helped shape and inform Khoury's writing of the play.
July 6, 2012, STARTALK, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
November 14, 2012, International Education Week, Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois
January 21, 2013, MLK Day Celebration, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana
March 14, 2013, Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
April 11, 2013, Multicultural Chicago Seminar, Professor Jane Hseu, Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois
May 15, 2013, University of Chicago Divinity School Luncheon, Chicago, Illinois
June 26, 2013, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Chicago, Illinois
July 19, 2013, STARTALK of the University of Chicago, Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
September 13, 2013, Intro to Chicago Theater, Professor Albert Williams of Columbia College, Silk Road
Rising, Chicago, Illinois
November 10, 2013, Wilmette Public Library, Wilmette, Illinois
December 9, 10, and 12, 2013, American University of Beirut, and Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
March 23, 2014, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, Illinois
April 12, 2014, Creating Justice Conference, Oakton College, Des Plaines, Illinois
April 24, 2014, Westhoff Theatre, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois
May 20, 2014, Directing for the Stage, Professor Joseph Gilg, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
May 22, 2014, Guest Artist on Arab American Theatre, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
October 18, 2014, Islamicate Studies Conference, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
October 20, 2014, Arab Chicago, Professor John Karam of DePaul University, Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
October 30, 2014, Harbach Theater, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
October 31, 2014, Introduction to Playwriting, Professor Kiraly, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
November 6, 2014, LGBT Resource Fair, Triton College, River Grove, Illinois
January 31, 2015, "Breaking Borders", Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
February 27, 2015, Introduction to Playwriting, Professor Kiraly, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
March 12, 2015, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Chicago, Illinois
March 16, 2015, Theater Colloquium, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana
March 18, 2015, Nicholas Branch Library, Naperville, Illinois
March 19, 2015, 95th Street Library, Naperville, Illinois
April 18, 2015, Arab American Family Services, Bridgeview, Illinois
May 21, 2015, Naperville Democrats, Naperville, Illinois
June 11, 2015 Aesthetics and Equity Panel, Animating Democracy, Black Ensemble Theater, Chicago, Illinois
July 7, 2015, STARTALK of the University of Chicago, Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
July 19, 2015, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Wheaton, Illinois
August 11, 2015, Niagara Foundation, Chicago, Illinois
August 25, 2015, Rotary Club Far North Side, Chicago, Illinois
August 27, 2015, Wyndemere Assisted Living, Wheaton, Illinois
September 20, 2015, Hope United Church of Christ, Naperville, Illinois
October 8, 2015, PFLAG, Deerfield, Illinois
November 3, 2015, Asian American Resource and Cultural Center, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
November 17 2015, First Congregational Church, Naperville, Illinois
January 24, 2016, DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church, Naperville, Illinois
January 3, 2016, PFLAG, Hinsdale, Illinois
March 3, 2016, Hands of Peace, Glenview Community Church, Glenview, Illinois
March 17, 2016, Rotary Club of Financial District, Union League Club, Chicago, Illinois
April 28, 2016, South Asian Middle Eastern Student Alliance, Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois
August 12, 2016, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, The Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois
Tuesday, October 25, 2016, Professor Kevin Considine, Calumet College of St. Joseph, Whiting, Indiana