Silk Road Theatre Project

 Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune –  BEST OF THEATRE 2007 - “All of Chicago a world-class stage”

A risky, rambunctious, acerbic and highly intelligent piece of new writing, this omnicultural take on the troubled Shakespearean classic introduced us to the work of Shishir Kurup. And Stuart Cardin’s lively, punky, premiere production was a great leap forward for Silk Road and a perfect match for such an insouciant script.

 Hedy Weiss, Chicago Tribune, “A bite of the apple, and more”

Silk Road Theatre’s exuberant Bollywoodized production of “Merchant on Venice,” Shishir Kurup’s contemporary take on Shakespeare, with Los Angeles‘ diverse Indian community in the spotlight. 

Time Out Chicago Theater staff, Time Out Chicago, “Ten Most Wanted: We pick the year’s best” 

In transferring Shakespeare’s Merchant to present-day SoCal, playwright Shishir Kurup gave the Bard a dash of hip-hop flavor and Bollywood flair, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Shifting Shakespeare’s Christian-Jew conflict to Hindus and Muslims, Kurup managed to comment on everyday religious discord and the challenge of reconciling traditional values with modern America. Stuart Carden’s production assembled a bevy of too-rarely-seen nonwhite actors, led by fiery Anish Jethmalani as a Shylock tough enough to rival Mike Nussbaum’s.

Venus Zarris, PerformInk, “Emotional Vocabulary Lessons”

Silk Road Theatre Project’s Merchant On Venice took another Shakespearian standard and transformed it into an amusing spectacle of cultural intersections. It was a polemic on theological and ethnic collisions that illuminated the overlooked Hindu-Muslim American communities, thereby emancipating the general perceptions of our all too homogenized body politic. 

Due to popular demand, we will be adding 2 weeks of performances of Merchant on Venice! The show now runs through November 18 — you can catch a preview of the show on StageChannel.com.

Critics are raving about Merchant on Venice! Here’s what they’re saying:

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It never hurts to ask, right? At least that was the theory when we started asking around for money to replace our ugly red folding chairs with spiffy new ones. Read the rest of this entry »

Stage Manager Ben Herman shares some of his thoughts on the rehearsal process — in the style of a rehearsal report, of course!GENERAL:”…but that might change.”It could be the tagline for any show, but I feel I’ve been whipping it out far more frequently than normal.  Read the rest of this entry »

I’m supposed to be at Great America right now riding roller coasters.Paid attention to the weather people and stayed home.It better thunderstorm sometime today in Gurnee or I am going to be pissed. So instead, I’m doing laundry and working on Merchant.Just received e-mail from our choreographer, Alka, regarding the two dance sequences for Merchant. Read the rest of this entry »

7am (Background Music – Beatles: “Good Morning, Good Morning”)Wake up, stare at the wall for about 5 minutes and grumble about having to move a muscle past the edge of my bed. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been an amazing time to launch into rehearsals for this play. I’ve been very excited about the opportunity of performing in it when we first did the staged-reading earlier this year at Silk Road.  Read the rest of this entry »

Production Manager Allie Herryman and Assistant Production Manager Isaac Sernoffsky have been busy preparing for rehearsals (which begin today!!!). The emails fly fast and furious between these two.  Read the rest of this entry »

Hello loyal blog readers! One of the perks of following this blog is that you get the inside scoop on all of the breaking SRTP news. Today, I’m pleased to present you with the cast list for Merchant on Venice, hot off the presses!  Read the rest of this entry »