Playwright Motti Lerner builds his riveting drama as explosive events find the settlers quickly at odds with the Israeli government... The complex arguments are evenly presented leaving audiences to arrive at their own conclusions.
Read MoreSilk Road Theatre Project Artistic Director Jamil Khoury comments that "I am utterly bound up and wound up by this play. Pangs of the Messiah embodies everything that Silk Road Theatre Project audiences have come to cherish about the company's repertoire. It's an intelligent, provocative, and emotionally compelling play that allows audiences to arrive at their own conclusions."
Read MoreHere, actors perform a scene from a Silk Road Theatre Project production of Merchant on Venice, the Indian-American playwright Shishir Kurup's retooling of Shakespeare that is set on Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles and features characters who are Muslim or Hindu.
Read MoreSet in 2012 amidst the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, Motti Lerner’s Pangs of the Messiah is an apocalyptic yet fiercely humane drama about eight West Bank Jewish settlers pitted against an Israel they feel has betrayed them. The play focuses on a religious family that finds itself torn between fighting to stay in their settlement and obeying their government’s decision to dismantle it. Left hanging in the balance is the legacy of their beliefs.
Read MoreMarch 19, 2009
Motti Lerner, playwright of Pangs of the Messiah, spoke on the role of playwrights in societies struggling with war and militarism.
Read MoreThis collaborative program between Silk Road Theatre Project and Theatre Mir featured scenes from the companies' respective productions of Motti Lerner's Pangs of the Messiah and Robin Soans' The Arab-Israeli Cookbook.
Read MoreIsraeli playwright Motti Lerner wrote Pangs of the Messiah more than 20 years ago, but he says the play is more relevant now than ever.
Read MorePlaywright Motti Lerner interviewed about Pangs of the Messiah on WBEZ. Actors Bernie Beck and Susan Adler are featured as well.
Read More[Jan Lisa Huttner] met with [playwight] Motti Lerner on Feb. 2, the first day of rehearsals with his new Chicago cast [to discuss his latest play, Pangs of the Messiah].
Read MoreIn the heat of immigration reform and the ongoing debate on racial inclusivity, I believe that the preservation of ethnic cultural heritage and ethnic art education are becoming more relevant and important every day. My own interest in ethnic arts practices, multiculturalism and cross-culture experience began with my musical training as a pipa[*] player. Ethnic and folk arts, especially in performance, fascinate me. After graduating with a master’s degree in art education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, my interest in ethnic arts practices continued to grow.
Read MoreSilk Road Theatre Project (SRTP) has rolled out an innovative audience engagement strategy that reaches beyond producing plays to provide several opportunities for patrons to connect with the company. The basis of the strategy is that the more information an individual has about the process of producing theatre—why a play was chosen, what influenced the playwright, etc.—the more likely they are to support it. It seems to be working. SRTP saw a 200 percent increase in individual donations last year.
Read MoreThis exclusive event for Silk Road Theatre Project subscribers and donors featured an intimate conversation with Motti Lerner, playwright of Pangs of the Messiah, and Artistic Director Jamil Khoury.
Read MoreThis $30,000 fellowship was awarded to Silk Road Rising Executive Director Malik Gillani as a grant for the organization's work to improve metropolitan Chicago.
Read MoreAs Barack Obama prepares to take office as president of the United States on January 20, his family is saying goodbye to their neighbourhood: Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago.
Read MoreChicago theatres are hanging in there with regards to year-end fundraising. Those that succeeded this past December did so because they have been focused all year on efforts to connect with their patrons and not just going for the quick hit at the end of the year.
Read MoreWhat makes Chicago theater—or for that matter, Chicago dance or any other form of performance practiced on our stages—special? We’d contend it’s the power of the ensemble, the spirit of collaboration that champions artistic risk-taking and subordinates the commercial. And so, in that spirit, the critical ensemble responsible for Newcity’s ongoing stage coverage presents our take on the most influential people on and offstage in Chicago.
Read MoreSilk Road Sojourns was a 11-episode video series, launched in 2008, that sought to connect new audiences with the artists and thinkers that inspire us. Aired on Chicago's CAN-TV (a Cable Access Network station) and streamed on Silk Road Rising's YouTube channel, the program established an easily-accessible forum from which we could share insights on creative processes while exploring the motivations and challenges inherent to telling a story. Featured guests included Silk Road playwrights who contextualized the world of their art within real-world political and cultural frameworks.
Read MoreGay Chicago Magazine's 2008 After Dark Award for Outstanding Adaptation was issued to playwright Shishir Kurup for Silk Road Theatre Project's production of "Merchant on Venice," directed by Stuart Carden.
Read MoreJulia Cho's Durango, presented by Silk Road Theatre Project, addressed gay themes in an intimate family drama concerning conflicts between first- and second-generation Korean Americans; the pressure to succeed; and the emotional damage of living in the closet for both a father and a son.
Read MoreList of this year's "Top 5 New Plays" according to Newcity Chicago.
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