2005 Staged Readings
August 14, 2005 CHINA DOLL by Elizabeth Wong
July 10, 2005 CELESTIAL MOTIONS by Mrinalini Kamath
May 15, 2005 TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH by Yussef El Guindi
May 6, 2005 CALLING APHRODITE by Velina Hasu Houston
March 19, 2005 GIBRAN - A Screenplay by Rana Kazkaz
February 13, 2005 QUESTION 27, QUESTION 28 by Chay Yew
January 30, 2005 BACK OF THE THROAT by Yussef El Guindi
August 14, 2005:
CHINA DOLL by Elizabeth Wong
Directed by Jay Paul Skelton
Featuring: Ambra Anie, Derek Czaplewski, James Foster, Steven Gilpin, Vanessa Greenway, Cheryl Hamada, Doug MacKechnie, Marc Rita, and Lisa Tejero
The Chicago Temple First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington St., Chicago 2nd Floor, Dixon Chapel 12:30 pm
Dragon Lady. Lotus Blossom. The woman who died a thousand deaths. China Doll is the story of a Chinatown girl who dreams about making it big in Hollywood. An award-winning play, this sensual fantasia takes inspiration from the remarkable life of Anna May Wong, America’s first and brightest Chinese-American movie star. Her loves. Her struggles. Her humiliations. Her triumphs. From humble beginnings, to the rigors of training in the studio system of LB Mayer and Samuel Goldwyn, to the heights of success in such classic films as Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich. This is a loving and unflinching homage to a woman ahead of her time.
Followed by a Q & A session with playwright Elizabeth Wong.
July 10, 2005:
CELESTIAL MOTIONS by Mrinalini Kamath
Directed by Anish Jethmalani
Featuring: Kareem Bandealy, Ravi Batista, Jaii Beckley, Geoff Button, Aroon Chaddha, Anil Hurkadli, Sapna Kumar, Sean Sinitsky, Anjali Thawani, and Bobby Zaman
The Chicago Temple First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington St., Chicago Dixon Chapel 12:30 pm
Celestial Motions tells the story of what happens when Leela’s parents, who immigrated to the US from India, are forced to confront a big mistake-they had forgotten to take daylight savings time into account when they had Leela’s Hindu astrological chart drawn at her birth. Accordingly, they have the chart redrawn, and the startling prediction sets the 25-year old woman on a journey of arranged dating and cyber romance, as her parents desperately try to preserve their family’s identity. Little do they realize that Leela’s destiny is closer than either they or Leela can imagine. An intercultural romantic comedy.
Followed by a Q & A session with playwright Mrinalini Kamath.
May 15, 2005:
TEN ACROBATS IN AN AMAZING LEAP OF FAITH by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Stuart Carden
Featuring: Kareem Bandealy, Mary Ann de la Cruz, Steven Gilpin, Anil Hurkadli, Irit Levit, Monica Lopez, Vincent Mahler, Peter Nicholas, Kimberly Palter, Frank Platis, and Amira Sabbagh
The Chicago Temple First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington St., Chicago Pierce Hall 12:30 pm
Muslim-American Family All-American Tale
See the Fawzis, an Egyptian immigrant family struggling to find their place within American society. Marvel as they painstakingly navigate inter-generational conflict, their Islamic faith, and the values of two cultures. East meets West meets mayhem in this Muslim-American family comedy evoking universal themes of faith, culture, belonging, and desire. Ten Acrobats adds a brand new chapter to the American immigrant narrative as captured on stage.
Followed by a Q & A session with playwright Yussef El Guindi.
May 6, 2005:
CALLING APHRODITE by Velina Hasu Houston
Directed by Patrizia Acerra
Featuring: Jaii Beckley, Stephanie Gaddy, Soojin Park, Frank Platis, Marc Rita, and Elaine Robinson
Dramaturg: Kyle Gorden
Columbia College Chicag oFerguson Theatre 600 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago 7:00 pm
In Calling Aphrodite, the exquisite and distinctive Keiko Kimura’s life is critically altered when war arrives in Japan. Standing at ground zero in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb falls, she is horribly disfigured. An American philanthropist engages a New York surgeon to take on the case of Keiko and other women scarred in the bombing - “the Hiroshima Maidens” of legend. As Keiko’s crisis crosses borders, her life becomes a quest for enlightenment, restoring her faith in humanity’s integrity and grace.
Followed by a Q & A session with playwright Velina Hasu Houston.
Presented in partnership with Columbia College’s Center for Asian Arts and Media (www.asianartsandmedia.org), as part of the Woman Warrior Festival 2005 (www.asianartsandmedia.org/womanwarrior2005.) The Center for Asian Arts and Media is a multidisciplinary arts center dedicated to supporting, promoting and presenting arts and media programs by and about Asians and Asian Americans.
March 19, 2005:
GIBRAN - A SCREENPLAY by Rana Kazkaz
Directed by Andrea Klunder
Featuring: Khalid Alshaer, Ravi Batista, Winston Evans, Kamal Hans, Anil Hurkadli, Carol Karaguez, Vincent Mahler, Fawzia Mirza, Matthew Pearsall, Martha Teagle, and Ashourina Yacoub
The Chicago Temple First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington St., Chicago 2nd Floor, Dixon Chapel 2:00 pm
Gibran chronicles the epic and turbulent life of renowned artist-poet Khalil Gibran, from his poverty-stricken boyhood in Ottoman-controlled Lebanon, to his adult travels as an artist in Cairo, Paris, Boston and New York City in the early 1900s. Although born with a broken heart and a tortured soul, Gibran struggles to deliver his message to the world: We are all infinitely more than we think and all we can do is find out how much we are. In the end this dream, combined with the tragic and breath-taking events of his life, compels him to write The Prophet, a book that is now the second best selling book in American history.
Followed by a Q & A session with screenplay writer Rana Kazkaz.
Presented in partnership with Chicago ScriptWorks (www.chicagoscriptworks.org), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to producing a series of staged screenplay readings, created to provide a public forum for new works and fresh voices.
February 13, 2005:
QUESTION 27, QUESTION 28 by Chay Yew
Directed by Julieanne Ehre
Featuring: Mary Ann de la Cruz, Stephanie Gaddy, Cheryl Hamada, and Elaine Robinson
Dramaturg: Kyle Gorden
DePaul University Student Cente 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago 2:00 pm
What happened to the women of the Japanese American internment? How did these brave women keep hope in the American dream alive? Based on transcripts, documents, personal testimonies, and interviews with Japanese American female internees, Chay Yew’s Question 27, Question 28 is both heartwrenching and inspiring, weaving stories of the struggles, resilience and courage of Japanese American female detainees held in the American internment camps during World War II.
Followed by a Q & A session with playwright Chay Yew.
Presented as part of the Japanese-American community’s annual Day of Remembrance commemorating the 63rd Anniversary of the Signing of Executive Order 9066. Day of Remembrance is being co-sponsored by Chicago Japanese American Council, Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, DePaul University, Delta Phi Lambda Asian Interest Sorority, DePaul University, Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Japanese American Citizens League, Chicago Chapter Japanese American Service Committee, and Silk Road Theatre Project.
January 30, 2005:
BACK OF THE THROAT by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Anna Bahow
Featuring: Jaii Beckley, Aaron Christensen, Sean Cooper, Cameron Feagin, Anil Hurkadli, and Madrid St. Angelo
The Chicago Temple First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington St., Chicago Dixon Chapel 12:30 pm
Two government officials pay an Arab-American man, Khalid, a seemingly innocuous visit. What begins as a “friendly” inquiry soon devolves into a chilling, full-blown investigation of Khalid’s presumed ties to terrorists. At times surreal and comic, Back of the Throatexamines the way in which facts, evidence and (mis)perceptions are used to distort the truth and how notions of cultural “otherness” impact the relationship between the accusers and the accused.
Followed by a Q & A session with playwright Yussef El Guindi.
Presented in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (www.aclu-il.org), a non-profit, non-partisan organization, dedicated to protecting freedom, liberty, equality and justice for all within the United States.