Ten Acrobats Reviews
/ by Guest UserTen Acrobats, with an uncomplicated plot about immigrant parents that lose their grip as they lose their children to multiculturalism, delivers their familiar dysfunctions through the added prism of today's social and political attitudes towards Muslims, imbuing issues of assimilation, atheism, feminism and sexuality with topical urgency.
Read MoreWhat distinguishes Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith from a television sitcom is the intelligence and humor applied by the playwright and the production team.
Read MoreThis is one of those rare productions of a family drama in which the actors actually make a believable family—despite coming from a United Nations of backgrounds. What better way could there have been to reflect the universality of the human experience?
Read MoreSpace does not permit me to touch on all of the ground covered in the magnificent script and evoked and provoked by this excellent production, but I will tell you that this tells the story of a loving family of Americans who confront the challenges that come with questioning tradition.
Read MoreThe words are absolutely understandable, yet they hint - with understated grace - at intricacies beneath the surface and create a dialogue as layered as the threads of a hand-woven carpet.
Read MoreWhat makes El Guindi’s play remarkable is how artfully he presents this slice of Muslim-American life. His play is unsentimental and almost completely melodrama-free. Parts of his tale even feel like direct transcriptions from life, they are so realistic.
Read MoreThe appeal of Ten Acrobats is that while we've seen parents of innumerable ethnicities throw up their hands in horror at their kids, we've rarely seen Muslim characters do so. That's because — in the Chicago theater, at least — we rarely see plays with Muslim characters.
Read MoreIn Guindi's play, the intergenerational conflicts of the Fawzi family are intensified by the pull of two very different cultures. The children's lives have been infiltrated by American values, while the parents fight to find a balance with this and the traditional values they hold dear.
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