Silk Road Rising is a theatre company located in downtown

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

dedicated to presenting plays written by individuals of Asian and Middle Eastern descent. Formerly known as Silk Road Theatre Project, the name was changed in 2011 in order to better reflect their mission statement which includes online video plays and documentaries, civic engagement projects, and education programming in addition to live theatre. The professional

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

theatre is located in Pierce Hall in lower level of the

Chicago Temple Building First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple is a church located at the base and in the utmost floors of the Chicago Temple Building, a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. The top of the building is at a height of 173 metres (568 feet). ...

at 77 West Washington Street, directly across from the

Richard J. Daley Center The Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its open courtyard Daley Plaza and named after longtime mayor Richard J. Daley, is the premier civic center of the City of Chicago in Illinois. The Center's modernist skyscraper primarily houses of ...

. Silk Road Rising is hosted by the First United Methodist Church upstairs; however, they maintain a secular relationship.

History

Silk Road Rising was founded in 2002 by life-partners Malik Gillani (a Pakistani Muslim) and Jamil Khoury (a Syrian Orthodox Christian) as a proactive, artistic response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. As Khoury wrote, "First Al Qaeda hijacked Islam, then public anger hijacked our citizenship." As 9-11 second responders, Malik and Jamil set out to use storytelling as a means of challenging the hatred and fanaticism fueling both the attacks, and the backlash that quickly ensued. They work to harness the narratives surrounding Silk Road communities by creating live theatre and online video plays that tell stories through primarily Asian American and Middle Eastern American lenses. By representing communities that intersect and overlap, they advance a polycultural worldview. Silk Road Rising espouses three artistic goals: :1. Advance the creation of and expand access to works of Asian American and Middle Eastern American artists. :2. Deepen understanding of Asian and Middle Eastern cultures within the broader community. :3. Increase access to resources and provide learning opportunities that allow individuals to explore, express and embrace a broader world view. Since its founding, Silk Road Rising has collaborated with 58 playwrights to produce 24 plays (11 world premieres, 8 commissioned by Silk Road Rising; 9 Midwest premieres; 4 Chicago premieres) and 50 enhanced staged readings.

Awards

The

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

awarded Silk Road Rising their National Theatre Company Grant in 2010. Silk Road Rising's 2011 production of '' Scorched'' received three

Jeff Awards The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for Theater in Chicago, theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century A ...

including Actress in a Supporting Role, Lighting Design and Sound Design. In 2013, Silk Road Rising received

Chicago Sinfonietta The Chicago Sinfonietta is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is nationally and internationally acclaimed as a cultural leader and a powerful advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and is renowned for its groundbreaking, d ...

's Chairperson's Award for Diversity and Inclusion. On Friday, May 19, 2013, SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) presented its 2013 ChangeMaker Award to Silk Road Rising in honor of ''Mosque Alert'', "launched on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, is a first of its kind online civic engagement and new play development process that illuminates the challenges faced by Muslim Americans when trying to build houses of worship." On November 12, 2014, Silk Road Rising was inducted into the

Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chic ...

. Artistic Director, Jamil Khoury, received the Community Leader Award from the

Association for Asian American Studies The Association for Asian American Studies was founded in 1979 as the Association for Asian/Pacific American Studies. The name was changed in 1982. The organization was established to promote teaching and research in Asian American studies. Its o ...

on April 25, 2015.

Productions

* 2015: ''Silk Road Solos: A Festival of Solo Performances'' * 2014: ** ''The Hundred Flowers Project'' by Christopher Chen ** ''Brahman/i'' by Aditi Brennan Kapil * 2013: ** ''The Lake Effect'' by

Rajiv Joseph Rajiv Joseph (born June 16, 1974) is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play ''Descri ...

** ''Invasion!'' by Jonas Hassen Khemiri ** ''Paulus'' by

Motti Lerner Motti Lerner (born September 16, 1949) is an Israeli playwright and screenwriter. Early life He was born in Zikhron Ya'akov, a village south of Haifa, in Israel. His great-grandparents immigrated to Palestine in 1882 from Romania and Russia, ...

* 2012: ** ''Re-Spiced: A Silk Road Cabaret'' ** ''Night Over Erzinga'' by Adriana Sevahn Nichols * 2011: '' Yellow Face'' by

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...

* 2010: ** ''The DNA Trail: A Genealogy of Short Plays about Ancestry, Identity and Utter Confusion'' ** '' Scorched'' by

Wajdi Mouawad Wajdi Mouawad, OC, (born 1968) is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor, and director. He is known in Canadian and French theatre for politically engaged works such as the acclaimed play ''Incendies'' (2003). His works often revolve around family t ...

* 2009: ** ''Pangs of the Messiah'' by

** ''Silk Road Cabaret: Broadway Sings the Silk Road'' * 2008: ** ''Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat'' by Yussef El Guindi ** ''Durango'' by

Julia Cho Julia Cho (born July 5, 1975) is an American playwright and television writer. In March 2020 she was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. Select full length plays ''99 Histories'' (2002) ''99 Histories'' is a drama portraying the ...

** ''Yohen'' by

Philip Kan Gotanda Philip Kan Gotanda (born December 17, 1951) is an American playwright and filmmaker and a third generation Japanese American. Much of his work deals with Asian American issues and experiences. Biography Over the last three decades Gotanda h ...

* 2007: ** ''Golden Child'' by

** ''Merchant on Venice'' by Shishir Kurup * 2006: ** '' Back of the Throat'' by Yussef El Guindi ** ''Caravaggio'' by Richard Vetere * 2005: ''10 Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith'' by Yussef El Guindi * 2004: ''Tea'' by

Velina Hasu Houston Velina Hasu Houston (born Velina Avisa Hasu Houston; May 5, 1957) is an American playwright, essayist, poet, author, editor and screenwriter who has had many works produced, presented and published. Her work draws from her experience of bei ...

* 2003: ''Precious Stones'' by Jamil Khoury

Online Video Plays & Documentaries

*''both/and'' (2011) *''Not Quite White: Arabs, Slavs and the Contours of Contested Whiteness'' (2012) *''The Balancing Arab'' (2012) *''Sacred Stages: a Church, a Theatre, and a Story'' (2014) *''Multi Meets Poly: Multiculturalism and Polyculturalism Go on a First Date'' (2015) *''Obstacle Course'' (2019)

References

External links