By my definition, Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith is good theatre. It is intelligent, beautifully written, and entertaining. The fact that it also humanizes a Muslim-American family is, sad to say, quite a feat in today's political climate.
Newcity Chicago By Fabrizio O. Almeida November 15, 2005
Ten Acrobats, with an uncomplicated plot about immigrant parents that lose their grip as they lose their children to multiculturalism, delivers their familiar dysfunctions through the added prism of today's social and political attitudes towards Muslims, imbuing issues of assimilation, atheism, feminism and sexuality with topical urgency.
Chicago Journal By Kristin Gehring November 10, 2005
What distinguishes Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith from a television sitcom is the intelligence and humor applied by the playwright and the production team.
Chicago Free Press By Louis Weisberg November 9, 2005
This is one of those rare productions of a family drama in which the actors actually make a believable family—despite coming from a United Nations of backgrounds. What better way could there have been to reflect the universality of the human experience?
Gay Chicago Magazine By Venus Zarris November 3, 2005
Space does not permit me to touch on all of the ground covered in the magnificent script and evoked and provoked by this excellent production, but I will tell you that this tells the story of a loving family of Americans who confront the challenges that come with questioning tradition.
The words are absolutely understandable, yet they hint - with understated grace - at intricacies beneath the surface and create a dialogue as layered as the threads of a hand-woven carpet.
What makes El Guindi’s play remarkable is how artfully he presents this slice of Muslim-American life. His play is unsentimental and almost completely melodrama-free. Parts of his tale even feel like direct transcriptions from life, they are so realistic.
The appeal of Ten Acrobats is that while we've seen parents of innumerable ethnicities throw up their hands in horror at their kids, we've rarely seen Muslim characters do so. That's because — in the Chicago theater, at least — we rarely see plays with Muslim characters.
Chicago Sun-Times By Mary Houlihan October 24, 2005
In Guindi's play, the intergenerational conflicts of the Fawzi family are intensified by the pull of two very different cultures. The children's lives have been infiltrated by American values, while the parents fight to find a balance with this and the traditional values they hold dear.
"The voices in the play are voices I've heard all my life," [playwright Yussef El Guindi] said. "I’d always wanted to write a play that dealt with the Muslim (as well as Arab) immigrant experience in this country. Ten Acrobats was my stab at that."
Pioneer Press - Oak Leaves By Jennifer Olvera October 19, 2005
An Egyptian immigrant family struggles to find their place within American society, navigating inter-generational conflict, their Islamic faith and the values of two cultures. In evoking universal themes of faith, culture, belonging and desire, it adds a new chapter to the American immigrant narrative as captured on stage.
Written by Yussef El Guindi The World Premiere Directed by Stuart Carden
October 16, 2005
For this special performance of Yussef El Guindi's Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, Silk Road Theatre Project arranged to have an audience made up of one-third Christians, one-third Jews, and one-third Muslims.
The World Premiere Written by Yussef El Guindi Directed by Stuart Carden
See the Fawzis, an Egyptian immigrant family in southern California struggling to find their place within American society. Marvel as they painstakingly navigate inter-generational conflict, their Islamic faith, and the values of two cultures.
East meets West meets mayhem in this Muslim-American family comedy evoking universal themes of faith, culture, belonging, and desire. Ten Acrobats adds a brand new chapter to the American immigrant narrative as captured on stage.
Silk Road Theatre Project News Release October 13, 2005
True to Silk Road Theatre Project’s mission of showcasing playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean backgrounds whose works address themes relevant to the people of the Silk Road and their Diaspora communities, Ten Acrobats doesn’t shy away from controversial subject matter either.
Silk Road Theatre Project News Release October 13, 2005
Yussef el Guindi’s play dares to ask questions, questions about religious observance, about belief, about living in a secular society, about being Muslim in an overwhelmingly Christian country.
Throughout the run of Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, Silk Road Theatre Project hosted an exhibition of 16 paintings by artist Andrea Harris, depicting veiled women from around the world.
Chicago Sun-Times By Rummana Hussain October 5, 2005
The theater's founders think the play, incidentally set during Ramadan, is groundbreaking because it centers on a loving Muslim-American family and doesn't cater to the usual stereotypes of harems, belly dancers, terrorists and sinister despots.
The Columbia Chronicle By Tiffany Breyne October 2005
Though Ten Acrobats does dip into finding similarities between cultures, it also portrays a cultural theme not often brought to the public eye before 9/11. Khoury said feedback from all the productions has been positive, with audience members thanking them for opening their eyes to new perspectives and ideas.
Written by Elizabeth Wong Directed by Jay Paul Skelton
Dragon Lady. Lotus Blossom. The woman who died a thousand deaths. China Doll is the story of a Chinatown girl who dreams about making it big in Hollywood. An award-winning play, this sensual fantasia takes inspiration from the remarkable life of Anna May Wong, America’s first and brightest Chinese American movie star: her loves, her struggles, her humiliations, her triumphs. From her humble beginnings to the rigors of training in the studio system of Louis B. Mayer and Samuel Goldwyn, to the heights of success in such classic films as Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich, this is a loving and unflinching homage to a woman ahead of her time.
