Silk Road Rising Announces 2017-2018 15th Anniversary Season

Silk Road Rising has announced its 15th Anniversary Season, which includes two world premieres, one U.S. premiere, and three staged reading series. Announcing the season, Founding Artistic Director Jamil Khoury said, "When a New Theatre Company launches its first season, all hopes are pinned on reaching a second. Then a fifth. Then a tenth season. Each one a milestone in its own right. But the tenth season is seen as a tipping point-from there, the company either begins to power down or commits to longevity. Five years later, the coveted fifteenth season shines as a testament to their achievements-to the relevance of the company's mission, the quality of its artistic work, the veracity of its artists and staff, and the sheer vitality of its role within the theatrical ecosystem."

"Please join us," Khoury continued, "for Silk Road Rising's 15th Anniversary Season as we bear witness to why the stories we tell and the playwrights we produce help make Chicago theatre that much richer and more responsive. Be part of celebrating the enormous achievement that is Silk Road's fifteen seasons on stage, online, in the classroom, and in the community. Because without our audiences and supporters we wouldn't be here today. So here's to a seminal anniversary and to building the next fifteen!"

Mainstage Productions

Wild Boar - The U.S. Premiere
November 9 to December 17, 2017

Press Opening: Saturday, November 18, 2017, at 4:00pm
Written by Candace Chong
Chinese to English Translation by Joanna C. Lee and Ken Smith
Adapted by David Henry Hwang
Directed by Helen Young

A gripping investigation of journalistic integrity, city planning, and social conscience, Wild Boar is a new play from one of Hong Kong's most acclaimed playwrights. When a controversial professor goes missing, an editor and his student band together to publicize the truth. Old flames spark and friendships are tested in the U.S. premiere of this thriller about media manipulation, fake news, and who gets to speak for the poor.

Through the Elevated Line - The World Premiere
March 8 to April 15, 2018

Press Opening: Saturday, March 17, 2018, at 4:00pm

Written by Novid Parsi
Directed by Carin Silkaitis

Having fled Iran after being imprisoned for being a gay man, a damaged Razi arrives at his sister's Chicago doorstep only to disrupt the life she and her American husband have built together. As the Chicago Cubs vie to make history, rivalries of a different kind simmer in the Uptown walk-up that Razi yearns to call home. With echoes of A Streetcar Named Desire, Novid Parsi's world premiere drama probes the boundaries between family, loss, prejudice, and desire.

Hollow/Wave - The World Premiere
May 17 to May 27, 2018
Written and Performed by Anu Bhatt

Directed by Barbara Zahora
Anu Bhatt combines the personal with the poetic in her new one-woman show about depression, body image, and sexual assault. Seeking a balance of identities as a South Asian working actor in Chicago, Bhatt investigates the meaning of success as she embraces her own unique identity. With courage and self-effacing humor, she combines raw memories with lyricism in a daring dance for empowerment through imperfection.

Crescent and Star Staged Reading Series: Arab and Muslim Journeys

Twice, Thrice, Frice

August 5 and 6, 2017
Written by Fouad Teymour
Directed by Kareem Fahmy

After news of an affair involving one of their husbands, 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.

Jihad Against Violence: Oh ISIS Up Yours!

August 19 and 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 provide a potent indictment of the surreal and sardonic world we now inhabit, and a welcome reminder that sisterhood is powerful.

We Swim, We Talk, We Go to War

September 9 and 10, 2017
Written by Mona Mansour

Directed by Anna Bahow
Should an Arab American enlist in the U.S. Army? 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.

In Collaboration with the Goethe-Institut: A Pairing of Staged Readings

P3M5: The Plurality of Privacy Project

January 13 and 14, 2018

What does privacy mean in the digital age? P3M5 is a groundbreaking transatlantic theater project featuring 5-Minute Plays from such renowned playwrights as Philip Kan Gotanda, Kenneth Lin, Rachida Lamrabet, and Marioan Hosseini. Presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Washington, D.C. and theaters across the U.S. and Europe, the collection aims to create an artistic and cultural dialogue around our divergent understandings of privacy in North America and Europe.

Pure Land

February 3 and 4, 2018
Written by Mehdi Moradpour
Translated from German to English by Neil Blackadder
German Iranian playwright Mehdi Moradpour's Reines 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. Translated from German to English with the same poetic language that won Moradpour the Eurodram Award, and presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Chicago, Pure Land pits a torturous past against an uncertain future with sobering effect.

New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from China and Taiwan

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts
Plays To Be Announced

July 2018
Curator: David Henry Hwang
Lead Director: Helen Young
Staged readings of three plays translated from Chinese to English that highlight the work of contemporary playwrights from China and Taiwan. Stylistically and aesthetically diverse, the featured plays examine a Chinese society rife with tensions between tradition and accelerating change, consumerism and communism, and authoritarianism and personal freedom. New China Festival will also include a panel discussion about the state of theatre in the Chinese speaking world and the insights American audiences can gain from Chinese plays.

Subscriptions
For their 15th Anniversary Season, Silk Road Rising is offering three different subscription options:

15th Anniversary Season Mainstage FlexPass - $85.00
Each 15th Anniversary Season Mainstage FlexPass offers you one ticket to all three of our Mainstage Productions (Wild Boar, Through the Elevated Line, and Hollow/Wave).

15th Anniversary Season Staged Reading Series FlexPass - $80.00
Each 15th Anniversary Season Staged Reading Series FlexPass offers you one ticket to each play in our Staged Reading Series (Crescent and Star Series, In Collaboration with Goethe-Institute Series, and New China Festival).

15th Anniversary Season FlexPass + Staged Reading Series Total Access - $165.00
Each 15th Anniversary Season FlexPass + Staged Reading Series Total Access offers you one ticket to all three of our Mainstage Productions (Wild Boar, Through the Elevated Line, and Hollow/Wave), as well as one ticket to each play in our Staged Reading Series (Crescent and Star Series, In Collaboration with Goethe-Institute Series, and New China Festival).

Subscriptions are available by calling the Box Office at 312.857.1234 ext. 201 or online at www.SilkRoadRising.org. Tickets may be redeemed for any performance during the show's run.

About Silk Road Rising

Founded in 2002 as a creative response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Silk Road Rising creates live theatre and online videos that tell stories through primarily Asian American and Middle Eastern American lenses. Through its work, Silk Road Rising helps create a world that values art over ideology and inquiry over dogma.

This year, NewCity named Silk Road Rising co-founders Jamil Khoury and Malik Gillani as "Players of the Moment" on their January 2017 cover issue, noting that "the very existence of Silk Road Rising has become as imperative as its mission."

Silk Road Rising's 2017-2018 Mainstage Season is partially sponsored by ComEd and The Bass Fund. "New China Festival: Staged Readings of Plays from China and Taiwan" is sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Silk Road Rising is also supported through the generous support of Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, The Field Foundation of Illinois, The Joyce Foundation, MacArthur Foundation for Arts and Culture at Prince, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, and Polk Bros. Foundation.

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