2003

Tea by Guest User

November 17, 2003

Written by Velina Hasu Houston
Directed by Lynn Ann Bernatowicz

Set in 1950’s small town Kansas, Tea tells the story of four women who come together to clean the house of a fifth after her tragic suicide upsets the balance of life in their small Japanese immigrant community. The spirit of the dead woman returns as a ghostly ringmaster to force the women to come to terms with the disquieting tension of their lives and find common ground. Her destiny requires she escape the limbo between life and death, and move on to the next world in peace, carving a future passage for the others.

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A Language of Their Own by Guest User

September 21, 2003

Written by Chay Yew
Directed by Jay Paul Skelton

An evocative journey into the lives of four gay men, three Asians and one Caucasian. A Language of Their Own is a lyrical and dramatic meditation on the nature of love, desire, sexuality, and self-definition as the four men come together and drift apart in a series of interconnecting stories.

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Precious Stones: The College Tour by Guest User

July 18, 2003–April 20, 2005

Written by Jamil Khoury
Multiple Casts, Multiple Directors

Precious Stones boldly examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the "safe" yet turbulent terrain of American Diaspora. Set in Chicago in 1989, the story unfolds against a backdrop of disturbing images, as the first Palestinian Intifadah rages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two women, one Jewish and one Palestinian, join forces to organize an Arab-Jewish dialogue group, only to find themselves falling in love. As they each cross "enemy lines," they stumble upon the disputed territories of sexuality and class.

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Precious Stones Course / University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies by Guest User

Led by Jamil Khoury
February 23, 2003

Course included a performance of Jamil Khoury's Precious Stones, followed by a post-show discussion with the playwright, the actors, and two experts on the socio-political background of the play, Dr. Ghada Talhami, Professor of Politics at Lake Forest College, and Rabbi Rebecca Lillian. The discussion explored the complex and divisive questions that the play raises about belonging, love, family, and community.

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A Stones Throw: Arabs and Israelis Brave the Minefield of Class, Sexuality, and Two Cultures at War in a Storefront Theater World Premiere. by Guest User

Chicago Journal
By Larry O. Dean
February 6, 2003

All's fair in love and war--or is it? That's a question central to Jamil Khoury's Precious Stones, a world premiere that opened last month at the Studio Theatre. Precious Stones is the inaugural production of the Silk Road Theatre Project, a nonprofit, non-Equity theater troupe based in Chicago and created to showcase playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds.

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by Guest User

Gay Chicago Magazine
By Venus Zarris
February 16, 2003

Regardless of your sex or sexual orientation, all you have to do is be at least semi-conscious to the events of modern life and you'll find plenty to be despondent about and LOTS to laugh at.

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Precious Stones by Guest User

January 16–March 2, 2003

The World Premiere
Written by Jamil Khoury
Directed by Michael Malek Najjar

Precious Stones boldly examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the "safe" yet turbulent terrain of American Diaspora. Set in Chicago in 1989, the story unfolds against a backdrop of disturbing images, as the first Palestinian Intifadah rages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two women, one Jewish and one Palestinian, join forces to organize an Arab-Jewish dialogue group, only to find themselves falling in love. As they each cross "enemy lines," they stumble upon the disputed territories of sexuality and class.  

Read the Program Book

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