June 28–29, 2014
Written by Robert Myers
Directed by Sandeep Das
By turns comic and appalling, Unmanned dramatizes the lives of two drone operators in a remote desert in the American Southwest—one, a retired male fighter pilot too terrified to fly again; the other, a young female gamer who has never flown. This sets the stage for an exploration of the bizarre and disturbing profession of the military drone “pilot” and the ways in which technology has radically altered contemporary life and warfare.
Read MoreJune 19–20, 2014
Written and Directed by Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf
The Translator tells the story of Sammy, an English-Arabic translator who defected from Syria, and Zaid, his politically active brother who is arrested for peacefully demonstrating against the regime. A fearful Sammy illegally returns to Syria in order to find his brother and in the process discovers his courage.
Read MoreJune 7, 2014
This event, honoring Reverend Phil Blackwell, featured a reception at the Walnut Room on the 7th floor of Macy's on State and a program of live musical entertainment & poetry followed by a screening of Sacred Stages: A Church, A Theatre, and A Story.
Read MoreModerated by Jamil Khoury
Featuring Pidgeon Pagonis, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Mohamed Mehdi, Wendy Doniger, and Nisha Kommattam
April 13, 2014
With this panel discussion we intend to probe and explore questions of identity and representation as they pertain to storytelling, both historically and in our rapidly changing, ever-globalizing world.
Read MoreChicago Tribune
By Nina Metz
April 9, 2014
Gender, cultural identity and the pains of adolescence get a thorough filleting and grilling in this story of an American child of Indian immigrants who is born intersex, with both male and female genital characteristics.
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Read MoreChicago Stage Standard
By John Boss
April 7, 2014
The one hour and 45 minute journey tugs at your heart strings and tickles your funny bone. The play educates and illuminates. Kudos to Ms. Mirza for memorizing what is essentially a one actor play.
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Read MoreChicago Sun-Times
By Hedy Weiss
April 6, 2014
Mirza, a petite but athletic actress with a sharply sardonic edge, and a persona that can shift from boyish to glam, also happens to give a tour de force performance in the role under Andrew Volkoff’s direction.
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Read MoreNewcity Stage Chicago
By Zach Freeman
April 6, 2014
Presented in the guise of stand-up comedy, writer Aditi Brennan Kapil’s entertaining, occasionally provocative show is a treatise on the intersections of personal and cultural boundaries [...] and much of it is wildly successful.
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Read MoreMarch 27–May 4, 2014
The Chicago Premiere
Co-Production with About Face Theatre
Written by Aditi Brennan Kapil
Directed by Andrew Volkoff
In this provocative play masquerading as a stand-up comedy routine, an Indian intersex person explores history, mythology, gender roles. . . and high school. Funny, cynical, inventive and intensely charismatic, Brahman/i takes on more than a dozen unforgettable characters in a fascinating life story that most of us can barely even begin to imagine.
Read the Program Book
Read MoreDirected, Edited, and Produced by Malik Gillani & Jamil Khoury
March 22, 2014
Sacred Stages: A Church, A Theatre, and A Story (28min, 37sec), tells the unique and inspiring story of the relationship between the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple—Chicago's oldest Christian congregation—and Silk Road Rising, a theatre company founded in response to 9/11 and dedicated to showcasing playwrights of Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds. A shared commitment to storytelling, racial and economic justice, and LGBT inclusion characterizes this profound partnership between a religious community and a secular theatre.
Read MoreModerated by Jamil Khoury
Featuring Sahar Assaf, Riad Ismat, Nabeel Khoury, Robert Myers, Nada Saab
March 10, 2014
DRAMATIZING RESISTANCE: Saadallah Wannous and the State of Contemporary Arab Theatre is a panel discussion exploring the legacy of the late great Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous (1941 - 1997), whose "theatre of politicization" project countered what is commonly referred to as "political theatre." Wannous' influence on theatre being created in the Arab world today, the role of the dissident playwright against the reality of government censorship, and the relationship between theatre and the "Arab Spring," are among the featured topics.
Read MoreModerated by Jamil Khoury
Featuring Sahar Assaf, Riad Ismat, Nabeel Khoury, Robert Myers, and Nada Saab
March 10, 2014
Dramatizing Resistance: Saadallah Wannous and the State of Contemporary Arab Theatre was a panel discussion held on March 10, 2014 at Silk Road Rising that explored the legacy of the late great Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous. Wannous' influence on theatre being created in the Arab world today, the reality of government censorship, and the relationship between theatre and social and political change, were among the featured topics.
Read MoreMarch 8–9, 2014
Written by Saadallah Wannous
Translated from Arabic by Robert Myers and Nada Saab
Directed by Sahar Assaf
In 1880s Damascus, two rival clerics are mired in a feud that tears the city apart. Political ambition, religious fundamentalism, and sexual hypocrisy fan the theatrical flames in this blistering critique of patriarchy and power in the Arab world.
Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous (1941–1997) has been called both the Bertolt Brecht and the Wole Soyinka of the Arab theatre. His plays are to the Arab world what Vaclav Havel’s plays were to the Iron Curtain.
Read MoreFebruary 7–9, 2014
Written by Sheri Winkelmann
Directed by Helen Young
When Sadia travels to India to volunteer with the exiled Tibetan refugee community, she never imagines that she will meet the love of her life. Caught in a whirlwind romance, she returns with new love to America and they quickly marry. Not long after the wedding, Sadia discovers a dark, twisted side to him that eventually threatens her life. Struggling to escape the physical and psychological violence that has become her daily life, she discovers the enlightened Sufi poet Rumi, whose spiritual insights guide her to freedom.
Read MoreJanuary 17–19, 2014
Written by Rohina Malik
Directed by Corey Pond
Meet Abdul Samee: his father is Iraqi and his mother is Puerto Rican. Longing to shed his cultural identity, he changes his name to Sam, marries an American, and does everything in his power to turn his back on his heritage. But when Sam meets Yasmina, a beautiful woman from his father’s homeland, he begins to learn that a tree without roots cannot stand for long.
Read MoreSome people thought me heroic, even thanked me for being so brave. I had said what others thought but were afraid to speak. Afraid of retribution, afraid of never working again. And it was that expression of fear that I heard over and over again, usually couched within anecdotes, one more disturbing than the next. Had I been whisked away to another sector, I wondered? Was I singlehandedly battling Monsanto? For what I did was neither courageous nor controversial. I’m an artistic director. I was doing my job. If theatre makers are in the business of representation, but are not allowed to challenge representation, something is terribly wrong. If storytellers can’t call out a storyteller, then how in God’s name will we ever change the world? Yet in speaking out I came to realize that the very structure of our sector is built upon the fears of the artist.
Read MoreSome people thought me heroic, even thanked me for being so brave. I had said what others thought but were afraid to speak. Afraid of retribution, afraid of never working again. And it was that expression of fear that I heard over and over again, usually couched within anecdotes, one more disturbing than the next...
Read MorePresented by the Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards
Awarded to Rajiv Joseph
December 31, 2013
The award for "Best New Work" was presented to playwright Rajiv Joseph for The Lake Effect, commissioned by Silk Road Rising and produced in 2013.
Read More About the Award
Read MoreMy name is Jamil Khoury and I study the political utility of art. Too general. My name is Jamil Khoury and I study the diplomatic efficacy of theatre. Too ambiguous. My name is Jamil Khoury and I study the dialectics of storytelling and social change. Too academic. My name is Jamil Khoury and I study the empathic functions of humor. Whatever...
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