I found this Merchant 10 times as funny, smart and intellectually stimulating as The Bomb-itty of Errors, which it slightly resembles. And that has been a hit across the country. For sure, this piece is a must-see for anyone who follows progressive approaches to Shakespeare.
Read More[It's] Kurup's wit and wordplay ("Will The Circle Be Unbroken" lyrics become a pun on the Hindu word for brother) and the pop culture references (everything from GlaxoSmithKline, The Clash and the Rat Pack to Fred Segal and Paris Hilton) peppering the play that make it so palatable to a 21st century audience.
Read MoreThe irony of Shylock being a Muslim in this case, rather than a Jew, is an added layer in Kurup's rich, rhymed text that's clever and funny and pointed and heartfelt and filled with wonderful multicultural references appropriate to their Southern California melting pot.
Read MoreShishir Kurup doesn't merely update the Elizabethan vernacular (he keeps the iambs) in his bold, smart, sardonic reinvention of one of Shakespeare's most troubling plays. He also skillfully weaves in post-9/11 paranoia about "the other" as well as the prejudices of competing immigrant groups on LA's Venice Boulevard.
Read MoreMerchant on Venice is funny, articulate and poignant as the cross-cultural conflicts are dramatically presented amongst the background of Venice, California’s obsession with pop cultures. This show is energetic, well paced and engaging.
Read MoreMerchant on Venice retains the dark currents of the original while deliriously colliding headlong into the Indian equivalent of a Busby Berkeley spectacular.
Read MoreNote to New York's Public Theater, producer of Shakespeare in Central Park: Send a scout to see the Silk Road Theatre Project's hip, funny, ingeniously reconfigured world premiere of Merchant on Venice, Shishir Kurup's reinvention of Shakespeare's most controversial play.
Read More"Bollywood" has come to Chicago! Silk Road Theatre Project has opened its new season with a world premiere of Shishir Kurup's Merchant on Venice, a comic look at what would happen if The Bard met Bollywood... If you have ever seen one of these films, you will know what to expect. If not, you will find yourself "loving it!"
Read MoreThe Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts honors the legacy of Hope Abelson, an arts icon who is sorely-missed, particularly in the Chicago theatre community.
Read MoreThis award was presented to Silk Road Rising for having "demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial skills, innovation, willingness to take risks, leadership and management."
Read MoreThe global Bollywood explosion is only the most superficial indicator of the way India has become one of the two great global powerhouses (alongside China) for economic, cultural and social change during the last decade.
Read MoreIn Shishir Kurup’s Merchant on Venice, Venice, Italy intersects with L.A.’s Venice Boulevard in a wickedly funny, wildly inventive and politically provocative re-imagining of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Written in iambic pentameter and vividly colored by Indian, American and Latino pop references, playwright Kurup transforms Shakespeare’s original by injecting the story with Bollywood musical numbers, L.A. Punk, Hindu-Muslim tensions, and a distinctly American landscape.
Read MoreThe Joyce Foundation Work in Progress
A leisurely stroll through downtown Chicago on any given afternoon will likely reveal a sampling of ethnic and racial diversity that spans the globe. The richness of cultures is expressed in everything from Chicago's neighborhood restaurants to its world-class entertainment venues. But for reasons not entirely understood, Chicago's theater industry does not fully represent the diversity that is so effortlessly reflected in the rest of the city. "Theater people tend to be open-minded, sensitive, free-thinking individuals, so for us to be so far behind in this area is baffling," says Jamil Khoury, artistic director of the Silk Road Theatre Project. "We have a responsibility to lead the way to change."
Read MoreOne of the best things about the Chicago theater community is its diversity. Soon you will be able to sample four of Chicago's finest examples of that quality for less than $100.
Read MoreAsian communities in the United States are among our nation's fastest growing minority populations, so it isn't surprising that the American theater industry has begun to pay attention on two fronts. First, little by little, we are seeing mainstream theater companies produce Asian-themed works. In Chicago, over the last two years, the Goodman, Lookingglass, Prop, Steppenwolf, and Victory Gardens theaters have mounted productions representing the stories and cultures of ancient Persia, India, Japan, and the Philippines. The second front, which drives the first, is the increase in the number of playwrights, actors, directors, designers, composers, and producers who self-identify as Asian-American. You will find them within the mainstream and also organizing and running Asian specific theater companies, such as Rasaka Theatre Company, Silk Road Theatre Project, and Stir Friday Night, among several others here in Chicago.
Read MoreJamil Khoury, Silk Road's founding artistic director, knew Hope Abelson only by reputation but considers an award in her name "a wonderful validation of what we are doing." Silk Road is to use the money for new theater seats. Khoury said he was glad to see that the first two Hopie recipients "are committed to reaching out to diverse audiences and using new voices."
Read MoreSilk Road Rising has developed “Myths to Drama,” an arts integrated education program based on State of Illinois’ Board of Education descriptors including standards for: fine arts, drama, reading, writing, and social studies.
The great myths teach values and morals, reflect on right and wrong, and articulate important life lessons. Myths and stories are a catalyst for creative exploration. They are a vehicle for creating drama. They are also a wonderful way to make lasting connections with classroom learning.
Desi Drama: the First National South Asian American Theatre Conference was held in Chicago July 19-22, organized by the Silk Road Theatre Project with principal funding from the Ford Foundation and the American Institute for Pakistan Studies. The invitation-only meeting brought together 30 South Asian American playwrights, performers, directors and administrators chiefly from New York , Washington , D.C., Chicago , Minneapolis , San Francisco and greater Los Angeles .
Read MoreIn July 2007, Silk Road Rising organized and hosted Desi Drama: The First National South Asian American Theatre Conference, an invite-only convening that drew over 30 theatre artists and professionals from across the South Asian Diaspora. Together they worked to identify challenges often facing theatre professionals of South Asian heritage, while exploring strategies to create SATAM (South Asian American Theatre Arts Movement). The initiative resulted in a commitment to build southasianplaywrights.org, as well as plans to commission new plays, encourage co-producing partnerships, and provide mentorship to emerging artists.
Read MoreTo the outside world, the Lee boys look like the perfect Korean American sons: Isaac plans to be a doctor and his younger brother, Jimmy, is a champion swimmer with a bright future. But when their widowed father, Boo-Seng, decides to take them on a road trip to Durango, Colorado, all three find themselves grappling with old memories and unhealed wounds. As tempers flare and secrets break open, the difference between who they are and who they’ve pretended to be threatens to tear the family apart.
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