Silk Road Theatre Project Presents A DRESS OF STEEL MESH 9/30-10/2
By: Gabrielle Sierra Aug. 23, 2011
Silk Road Theatre Project's Al Kasida Staged Reading Series Presents Kemba Saran's Play A DRESS OF STEEL MESH, featuring Diana Simonzadeh, Kathleen Carot, and Delicia Dunham, and directed by Amanda Respess.
When Kemba was eighteen years old, she met a charming man who claimed that despite her hesitation their fates were sealed --she was destined to be his wife. So begins A Dress of Steel Mesh, which chronicles the story of a young woman who comes of age in a marriage marred by domestic violence. Compelled to turn inward for comfort, she finds solace by documenting her journey of survival. For nearly twenty years she navigates a terrifying labyrinth of oppression, gradually finding her way to a place of healing and wonderment. Relayed by a chorus of three female voices, A Dress of Steel Mesh offers hope and inspiration to those who, in losing their way, are forced to reclaim it.
"The title of the play, A Dress of Steel Mesh, is an image from the first poem I wrote after a twenty year hiatus from poetry. In the midst of surviving domestic violence, I had forgotten that I was a poet. The process of writing the play unleashed an unstoppable surge of verse-many of the scenes could simply not be told any other way. A Dress of Steel Mesh tells the story of what took place between those two literary landmarks-that first poem expressing a teenager's longing to be loved, and the poems which came years later, after I finally made my way home."EXCERPT FROM A DRESS OF STEEL MESH
"As I scrubbed out cabinets, swept floors, and made every atom of that house pristine, I felt as though I were washing a body for burial, wrapping it in silk, and setting it free. And there was such a sorrowful happiness in the releasing of what had bound us for so long."
Kemba Saran is a poet and playwright whose formal training as an architect infuses her literary work with imagery that is both visually striking and spatially conscious-a style that finds a perfect partnership with the stage. She received a Masters Degree in Architecture and Bachelor's degrees in both Architecture and English Literature from the University of Michigan, but she considers her true education the introspection shaped by the experiences illustrated in her play, A Dress of Steel Mesh. While living in Chicago, Kemba worked as an architect and an editor for a boutique publishing company. She currently works in the field of historic preservation documenting the stories of historic buildings and the communities who inhabit them.Kemba's first published book, To Dine with the Blameless Ethiopians, details her experiences with race, class, and identity, while trekking through South Africa and war-torn Mozambique. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is currently working on her second play. ABOUT DIRECTOR AMANDA RESPESS
Amanda Respess is very pleased to be working with Silk Road to bring Kemba Saran's story to life on the stage. Kemba and Amanda adapted Kemba's memoir sketches for the stage and first premiered an earlier version of the script in San Diego in 2008. In spring of 2010, Amanda directed the first fully staged production of A Dress of Steel Mesh at Northeastern Illinois University. Previous writing credits include collaboration on SuryaKantha: Beloved of the Sun, Asmita, and Sandesham, Messages in Movement. Amanda has also directed an award winning one-woman short for SOLO Tu, a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues at Oakton Community College, and excerpts from Tom Lysaght's Love's Companion. Her background as both an actor and dancer inform her sense of movement and style in spatial, choreographic storytelling.ABOUT AL KASIDA STAGED READING SERIES
Silk Road Theatre Project's Al Kasida Staged Reading Series is Chicagoland's first and only staged reading series dedicated to developing playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds. In Arabic, "al kasida" means "the ode." The word is meant to evoke the rich tradition of storytelling and epic poetry in the lands of the Silk Road.
Just as written and oral narratives helped convey the cultural and historical realities of antiquity, Al Kasida Staged Reading Series promises to illuminate for Chicago audiences the contemporary realities of a part of the world that is as vast and diverse as it is misunderstood.
All staged readings are free and open to the public unless otherwise stated.
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