Written by Jamil Khoury
Directed by Anne Jacques
September 11, 2012
"The Balancing Arab" tells the story of Heidi (played by Leslie Frame), an Irish American personal fitness trainer, and Hanan (played by Amira Sabbagh), her once morbidly obese Arab American client. Set in a downtown Chicago gym amidst a strenuous training session, the mood turns tense as the two women recount an event at the Arab American Cultural Center a few nights earlier, an event at which the evening’s political discourse got filtered through decidedly different lenses.
Read MoreIn the 2005 theater production of 10 Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, a strange thing happened to one audience member. The woman loved the play. The play, which told the story of an Egyptian family struggling to find its niche in American society, featured a genuinely loving relationship between a Muslim man and his wife.
Read MoreWATCH: Playwright Jamil Khoury discusses the ideas and inspirations surrounding his video play "both/and" and responds to his critics.
Read MoreAugust 3–5, 2012
Written by Shane Sakhrani
Directed by Anish Jethmalani
If ever a family was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it’s the Gupta family of Mumbai, India! An unexpected takeover of the Gupta family business lands it in the hands of an American corporation. Marital woes abound as traditional male-female dynamics are challenged. The specter of interracial dating rears its unruly head. And a poisonous legacy threatens the security of the family home.
Traditionally, an Indian family would have suffered said struggles with silent resentment. But in this age of globalization, intrusive modes of communication and Western style family therapy turn tradition on its head.
Read MoreSouthland native Kamal Hans will play Ashok in Silk Road Rising's readings of "The Doctor is Indian" from Aug. 3-5 in Chicago.
The readings will be directed by Anish Jethmalani and feature: Southlander Kamal Hans, Minita Gandhi, Puja Mohindra, Kelly O’Sullivan, Anita Chandwaney, Dipika Cherala, Behzad Dabu, Neal Dandade and Khurram Mozaffar.
Read MoreListen to the podcast by clicking HERE.
Read MoreJuly 13–15, 2012
Written by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Stuart Carden
It’s Abbott and Costello meet the Arab Spring in Yussef El Guindi’s political farce. An Egyptian revolutionary, an American collector of antiquities, and a reanimated mummy—just three of the characters in this sexy, slapstick romp where ideological opposites attract and the “new” Middle East is never too far from the same old same old.
Read More2011 - Present
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.
Read MoreJune 8–10, 2012
Written by Danny Bernardo
Directed by Greg Kolack
In Danny Bernardo’s Mahal, a Filipino American family redefines itself after loss & reclaims its culture.
After the death of the Reyes family matriarch, new relationships blossom, old ones are rediscovered, and family bonds are tested, as a long repressed secret from the homeland threatens to tear the family apart.
Read MoreMay 20, 2012
Silk Road Rising celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month with this Salute Video. Representing scenes from productions and artist interviews, the video showcases Silk Road Rising's contributions to making arts in Chicago truly representative and reflective of our city's beautiful diversity.
Read MoreWATCH: In Jamil Khoury's video essay "On Whiteness," Khoury explores the meanings and ramifications of whiteness, its promises and pitfalls, beneficiaries and victims, and his own complicated relationship to whiteness (existing somewhere between white and not quite white).
Read MoreApril 23, 2012
Written by Yiyun Li
Adapted and Directed by Lavina Jadhwani
Choreography by Kate McGroarty
Yiyun Li's Gold Boy, Emerald Girl includes nine short stories set in modern China. This staged reading was an adaptation of one of those stories.
Performed as part of Chicago Public Library's One Book, One Chicago
Read MoreChicago Theatre Addict
By Bob Bullen
April 20, 2012
Re-Spiced: A Silk Road Cabaret isn’t your mother’s cabaret. It’s bold, colorful, eclectic, relevant and shockingly subversive. I’ve seen a lot of cabaret in my time, but nothing quite like the experience I had last night.
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Read MoreChicago Theatre Minority Report
By Minita Gandhi
April 15, 2012
Directed by Steve Scott, this primarily Asian and Middle-Eastern cast delivers the eclectic American and British song and narrative selection of Jamil Khoury with punch, pizazz, and moments of seduction.
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Read MoreTheatreworld Internet Magazine
April 13, 2012
Re-Spiced: A Silk Road Cabaret devised by the innovative and bold Jamil Khoury is fun, uplifting and ripe with the hope, promise and energy delivered by a boundless youthful cast. Re-Spiced is a great show for the whole family.
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Read MoreChicago Tribune
By Kerry Reid
April 13, 2012
[This] is the rare cabaret evening that allows you to both enjoy and examine the cultural assumptions underpinning some well-loved songs — and the prose sections in "Re-Spiced" may send you on a mission to add some intriguing new flavors to your reading list.
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Read MoreChicago Theatre Beat
By Catey Sullivan
April 11, 2012
While some of the songs are familiar, Re-Spiced casts them in a fresh, thought-provoking context that’s at once unexpected, engaging and at times even a bit startling.
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Read MoreSteadstyle Chicago
By David Zak
April 10, 2012
There is a lot to like and learn from Re-Spiced, Silk Road Rising's new cabaret that lets us listen and laugh, reflecting on how far we have come, and how far there is yet to go.
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Read MoreChicago Reader
By Jack Helbig
April 10, 2012
The mix of contemporary and classic tunes alone makes this cabaret worth seeing. But Re-Spiced is smarter than your average evening of great music...
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Read MoreNewcity Stage Chicago
By Brian Hieggelke
April 10, 2012
As staged by director Steve Scott and choreographer Brenda Didier, the show succeeds on the basic level of being an enjoyable cabaret sung and danced with vigor and verve by a cast long on Asians and short on Caucasians.
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