Special Events - Performances
Throughout our history, we’ve produced special events that have included performances, galas, meet and greets, donor appreciation programs, and so on. Several of these events were produced as a result of unique opportunities that we either pursued or which came our way. Several were designed as fundraisers and/or donor cultivation forums. These events have played a key role in elevating our profile, expanding our reach, and deepening our communication with audiences and supporters.
January 23, 2017
This event, in conjunction with the Alphawood Gallery, featured a group discussion led by Artistic Director Jamil Khoury on creating art that responds to political and social crises. The gallery exhibit and a play reading of Don Nguyen's Red Flamboyant will serve as examples of such responses.
January 23, 2017
This event, in conjunction with the Alphawood Gallery, featured a group discussion led by Artistic Director Jamil Khoury on creating art that responds to political and social crises. The gallery exhibit and a play reading of Don Nguyen's Red Flamboyant will serve as examples of such responses.
Written by Jeanne Sakata
The Midwest Premiere
Directed by Jessica Kubzansky
January 13 - January 15, 2011
Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi by Jeanne Sakata chronicles the true story of one Japanese American’s enduring fight for his constitutional rights. Gordon Hirabayashi was a happy-go-lucky twenty-four-year-old college student living in Seattle when Pearl Harbor was attacked in late 1941. The government’s decision to remove and imprison all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast – including American citizens without due process of law – turned Gordon, a Quaker, into a crusader. Dawn’s Light faithfully documents Gordon’s historic decision to heed his conscience and pursue his faith in the protections of the Constitution all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Written by Philip Kan Gotanda
The Midwest Premiere
Directed by Steve Scott
November 20 - November 23, 2008
Yohen became the first fully produced Silk Road production ever to transfer to a new venue. After an eight-week run and closing in Chicago, we packed it up and went to Meilly-Swallow Hall at North Central College in Naperville, IL.
May 11, 2007
Silk Road Theatre Project presented an eclectic late-night celebration of music, dance, painting, poetry and theatre, as part of the Chicago Loop Alliance's all night party, Looptopia. Visitors were invited to join in as we read and discussed seven brief, brilliant, and irreverent plays written by Suzan-Lori Parks. The event also included visual artist Joel Maxime Jr.'s live painting of visual responses to the plays, as well as dancing with the actors as Indian-American choreographer Alka Nayyar taught the crowd a Punjabi folk dance called Bhangra.
Written by Richard Vetere
The World Premiere
Directed by Dale Heinen
November 5, 2006
This special matinee performance and panel discussion were part of the 2006 Chicago Humanities Festival.
Written by Yussef El Guindi
The Midwest Premiere
Directed by Stuart Carden
April 13, 2006
This special performance of Back of the Throat was followed by a discussion featuring Edwin C. Yohnka, Director of Communications for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, and Artistic Director Jamil Khoury.
Written by Yussef El Guindi
The World Premiere
Directed by Stuart Carden
October 16, 2005
For this special performance of Yussef El Guindi's Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, Silk Road Theatre Project arranged to have an audience made up of one-third Christians, one-third Jews, and one-third Muslims.