Silk Road Theatre Project's Al Kasida Staged Reading Series Presents Michael Najjar's New Play TALIB, featuring Adrienne Curry, Evan Dollard, Susaan Jamshidi, Vincent Mahler, and Diana Simonzadeh, and directed by Michael Najjar. The staged reading is underwritten through a generous grant from The Saints, volunteers for the performing arts.
WHEN: Saturday, August 14 at 7:30pm and Sunday, August 15 at 2:00pm
WHERE: Silk Road Theatre Project at The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77
W. Washington St., Pierce Hall, Chicago
COST: Free and Open to the Public.
RESERVATIONS: Reservations strongly recommended. Call 312-857-1234 ext. 201 or email boxoffice@srtp.org
The staged readings will be followed by a Q & A session with playwright/director Michael Najjar and moderated by SRTP Artistic Director Jamil Khoury.
For further information, visit
www.srtp.org or call 312-857-1234 ext. 201.
ABOUT TALIB
TALIB is Michael Najjar's adaptation of the late
Wendy Wasserstein's drama THIRD. TALIB (Arabic for "student") takes place on a university campus following the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces in 2003. Its main character, Hannan al-Najaf, is a professor of Near Eastern Studies struggling with war in her Iraqi homeland and turmoil in her American home. After a young Army reserve soldier enrolls in her class and writes an excellent analysis of the war, Hannan accuses him of plagiarism. But when an Arab colleague and her own daughter side with the accused party, Hannan plunges into a crisis of faith that affects her teaching, her personal life, and her academic future.
ABOUT PLAYWRIGHT/ACTOR MICHAEL NAJJAR
Michael Malek Najjar is a director and writer based in Los Angeles. He is a Ph.D. candidate with UCLA's Theater and Performance Studies Program with a focus in Arab American Theater and Performance. Michael holds a M.F.A. in Directing from York University (Toronto) and a B.A. in Theater from The University of New Mexico. He has served as the founding artistic director of Riverside Repertory Theatre (now Tricklock Theatre Company); chair and artistic director of the Portland Community College Theater Program, and associate artistic director of Bend Theatre for Young People. In 2003 he directed Silk Road Theater Project's world premiere production, PRECIOUS STONES, written by Jamil Khoury. He is currently co-editing the first anthology of Arab American and Arab Canadian Drama. Michael is a member of the Stage Directors and Chorographers Society and alumnus of The
Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab and Director's Lab West.
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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