January 24–25, 2020
Written by Khadeeja Ahmed, Edzhane Bills, Maryna Isho, Justin Morris, Patricia Ritacco, Idalia Rizvic, Bill Voler, and Zoey Walsh
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
A presentation of short plays written by new playwrights who participated in Silk Road Rising’s EPIC (Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course) residencies in Summer and Fall 2019. Writers are middle school and high school students or older adults whose plays shed light on the challenges and issues that Chicago youngest and eldest residents face.
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Read MoreDecember 14–17, 2019
Written by Abbas Abdulamir, Sophia Awuzie, Supie Dunbar, Leila Harris, Linda Hendelman, Kathleen Kelly, Bina Mangattukattil, Collette Martin-Wilde, Evelyn Miks, Halle Quezada, and Naomi Sufiran
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
West Ridge Story Festival features original plays written by residents of this ethnically, racially, religiously, and economically diverse Chicago neighborhood. We invite you to visit West Ridge and discover the narratives of those who call these 3.5 square miles on the city’s far north side their home.
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Read MoreOctober 22–24, 2019
Written and Performed by Priya Mohanty
Directed by Reshmi Rustebakke
How did a celebration with roots in multiple religions become a unifying force in India? What are the traditions that make it so rich? Enter the world of Jo, an Indian immigrant in America facing her first Diwali after the loss of her mother. Join her in lighting a diya to dispel the world’s darkness.
Read MoreJuly 14–15, 2019
Written by Emilia Kazumova
Adapted by Zarema Zautdinova
Poetry by Alexandra Shilyaeva
Translated from Russian by Graham Schmidt
Directed by Adrianne Cury
Fleeing domestic violence, rape, and deception, three women find refuge in a squalid apartment in the Izmailovo district of Moscow. Based on the personal life of playwright Emilia Kazumova and anecdotal stories that she collected, The Izmailovo Studio explores the pursuit of personal dignity against patriarchal torment.
Performed as part of Staging the Stans
Read MoreJuly 13–14, 2019
Written by Olzhas Zhanaydarov
Translated from Russian by John Freedman
Directed by Jeremy Aluma
Based on real events, Olzhas Zhanaydarov’s The Store exposes the brutal torment of a Kazakh migrant working in Moscow. Public indifference and a corrupt police force silence young victims lured from their homeland by a Kazakh trafficker. Promises of money, citizenship, and family reunification set the stage for a life of indentured servitude and abuse, a reality rationalized by religious interpretations of master and slave.
Performed as part of Staging the Stans
Read MoreJuly 12–13, 2019
Written by Talgat Batalov
Adapted by Yekaterina Bondarenko
Translated from Russian by John Freedman
Directed by Sami Ismat
In Talgot Batalov’s Uzbek, the tales of Central Asian immigrants become fodder for a stand-up comedy routine. The ironies, dangers, paradoxes, and absurdities of moving from one culture to another are satirized in this intrepid tribute to human resilience. Uzbek avoids cliches and partisanship, insisting instead that everything cuts two ways.
Performed as part of Staging the Stans
Read MoreJune 8–9, 2019
Written by Jacqueline Corral, Diego Del Carmen, Francisco G., Zacharie Hadj-Mohamed, Tyriana Jones, Ingrid Mares, Melanie Molina, Grace Neely, Jesus Vicente Ramos, Olivia Shumaker, Briseyda Torres, Doris Wolff, and Mary Yoon
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
A presentation of short plays written by new playwrights who participated in Silk Road Rising’s EPIC (Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course) residencies in Spring 2019. Writers are middle school and high school students or older adults whose plays shed light on the challenges and issues that Chicago youngest and eldest residents face.
Read the Program Book
Read MoreFebruary 9–10, 2019
Written by Marcel Carter, Susan Cisneros, Destiny Mendez, Shavez Rodgers, Diamond Torres, Lakyla Turner, and Taylor Woods
Directed by Corey Pond with Tracy Strimple
EPIC Showcase is a compilation of short plays written by middle school and high school students that shed light on the challenges and issues Chicago youth face. The readings are performed by actors from the Silk Road Rising community.
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Read MoreOctober 6–7, 2018
Co-Produced with A-Squared Theatre
Written by Preston Choi
Directed by Brian Balcom
As Louise prepares a TEDx Talk on the Migratory Patterns of the North American Monarch Butterfly, her three sons are on the hunt to find their father so they can avoid being drafted into the Korean army. Part nature documentary, part TED Talk, A Great Migration maps one family's search for identity, unity, and a destination they are reluctant to embrace.
Read MoreAugust 18–19, 2018
Written by Stan Lai
Translated from Chinese by Stan Lai with assistance by Tian Hongyi
Directed by Helen Young
Nightingale’s husband has been missing for nearly two decades. She’s convinced that he was abducted by aliens and will return on the twentieth anniversary of his disappearance. As Nightingale grows increasingly invested in her fantasies, her daughter and colleague grapple with an unsettling possibility: What if her husband doesn’t come back?
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising’s New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from the Chinese Speaking World
Read MoreAugust 11–12, 2018
Written by Gao Xingjian
Translated from Chinese by Gilbert C. F. Fong
Directed by Carol Ann Tan
Two strangers find themselves stranded outside of both time and place with only each other for company. Consumed by their personal loneliness, neither is able to truly listen to what the other has to say. Trapped in the existential crisis that follows a hook-up, their frustrations begin leading them down a path of mutual self-destruction.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising’s New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from the Chinese Speaking World
Read MoreAugust 4–5, 2018
Written by Ruoxin Xu
Directed by Helen Young
On the eve of Chinese New Year, Dan is finally returning to China after several years in the U.S. But before the Tang family can celebrate a reunion, they must first confront their national, cultural, and political differences if they are to understand why Dan is really back—and why he immigrated to America in the first place.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising’s New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from the Chinese Speaking World
Read MoreApril 19, 2018
Written by Jamil Khoury
Directed by Michael Menendian
Set in Naperville, Illinois, Obstacle Course explores reactions to a proposed Islamic Community Center on the site of a beloved landmark. Allyship, municipal politics, and Islamophobia all intersect in this head-on collision between Not in My Backyard fear mongering, well-intentioned liberalism, and the peaceful practice of faith.
Performed as part of RIOTCon 2018
Read MoreFebruary 3–4, 2018
Written by Mehdi Moradpour
Translated from German by Neil Blackadder
Directed by Sami Ismat
German Iranian playwright Mehdi Moradpour’s Pure Land, nominated for the Munich Prize for German Drama, traces the story of Tara, a pregnant Middle Eastern woman seeking political asylum amidst crippling bureaucracy and crumbling relationships. Neil Blackadder’s translation captures the poetry that won Moradpour the prestigious exil-DramatikerInnenpreis, a German theatre award for outstanding playwrights-in-exile.
Pure Land pits a torturous past against an uncertain future with sobering effect.
Read MoreJanuary 13–15, 2018
Written by Paco Bezerra, Philip Kan Gotanda, Simona Hamer, Marioan Hosseini, Rachida Lamrabet, Mihaela Michailov, and Csaba Székely
Directed by Kaiser Ahmed and Christine Bunuan
What does privacy mean in the digital age? P3M5 is a groundbreaking transatlantic theater project featuring five-minute plays from internationally renowned playwrights.
Read MoreSeptember 9–10, 2017
Written by Mona Mansour
Directed by Anna C. Bahow
Should an Arab American enlist in the U.S. military? A progressive woman and her conservative nephew dip into the treacherous waters of identity, family, and militarism. Co-commissioned with San Francisco’s Golden Thread Productions and New York’s Lark Play Development Center as part of the Middle East America New Plays Initiative, We Swim, We Talk, We Go to War blurs the lines between “us” and “them” presenting a provocative exploration of the tragic and indelible ripples of war.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising's Crescent and Star Staged Reading Series: Arab and Muslim Journeys
Read MoreAugust 19–20, 2017
Written by Fawzia Afzal-Khan
Directed by George Potter
A Muslim feminist responds to the hijacking of Islam by patriarchal extremists. Her unfiltered, stream-of-consciousness reflections deliver a potent indictment of the surreal and sardonic world we now inhabit, and a welcome reminder that sisterhood is powerful.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising's Crescent and Star Staged Reading Series: Arab and Muslim Journeys
Read MoreAugust 5–6, 2017
Written by Fouad Teymour
Directed by Kareem Fahmy
When an affair involving one of their husbands comes to light, long-held secrets begin to emerge in the lives of three Muslim women, threatening the friendship that binds them together. With humor and mischief, Twice, Thrice, Frice… unleashes a debate about polygamy and fidelity, as each woman struggles with her sexuality and faith.
Performed as part of Silk Road Rising's Crescent and Star Staged Reading Series: Arab and Muslim Journeys
Read MoreMay 30, 2017
Written by Driss Ksikes
Directed by Katy Walsh
The Match is a contemporary retelling of the Oedipus story told through solitude, revolution, and soccer.
Moussa is a disillusioned ex-trade unionist, returning from prison. His son Ali spends all of his time on the Internet. A battle of words, and silence, ensues while the national soccer team plays a historic match.
Read MoreApril 18, 2017
Written by Jamil Khoury
Directed by Carin Silkaitis
Inspired by the Ground Zero Mosque controversy in New York City, Mosque Alert tells the story of three fictional families living in Naperville, Illinois, whose lives are interrupted by a proposed Islamic Center on the site of a beloved local landmark. Mosque Alert explores the intersections of zoning and Islamophobia with humor, family drama, and refreshingly blunt honesty.
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