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A Critical Response of ‘Language Rooms’ at Broken Nose Theatre

While preparing my review of Language Rooms for publication, I saw a post on Facebook from fellow Rescripted critic, dramaturg and writer Yasmin Zacaria Mikhael. Mikhael’s post led me to a second post from actor Arti Ishak, who has previously contributed to an article on Rescripted by Emma Couling. Both of these posts expressed the pain and frustration caused by this production of Language Rooms, and became catalysts for community discussion about the show, its implications and impact, as well as the response of the largely white group of critics that wrote about the show. In reading those discussions, and after reaching out to Mikhael and Ishak, it was clear that my initial response to the show was missing something. Continue reading “A Critical Response of ‘Language Rooms’ at Broken Nose Theatre”

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A Captivating Everyman and His Harms: ‘I Call My Brothers’ at Interrobang

How would you feel if you lived every day of your life as someone who fits the media description of a terrorist? What would this do to your mental health? In playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s Chicago premiere of I Call My Brothers at Interrobang Theatre Project, we witness a 24 hour reality that is all too familiar to people of color. Under the direction of Abhi Shrestha, this play aims to amplify the experience of brown folks demonized and policed based on their appearance. Continue reading “A Captivating Everyman and His Harms: ‘I Call My Brothers’ at Interrobang”

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When The Show Must Not Go On: Chicago Artists Respond to Controversial Casting Notice

On Wednesday, September 19, several Chicago artists received an invitation to audition for a play called Angel by playwright Henry Naylor. Angel is the second production in a series called “Arabian Nightmares”. The invitation was sent by local Chicago theatre Akvavit on behalf of Urbanite Theatre, located in Sarasota, Florida. Angel is inspired by fake news tweeted by the English-language news outlet Slemani Times. The tweet contained a photo of a woman named Rehana who was rumored to have killed as many as 100 members of ISIS. It has since been proven that though the photo, taken by Swedish journalist Carl Drott, was of a real woman, she was not Rehana, or “The Angel of Kobane” as they claimed. This story of the “Angel” has no basis in fact, and was disproved by the BBC in 2014. Rehana, “The Angel of Kobane,” never existed at all. Continue reading “When The Show Must Not Go On: Chicago Artists Respond to Controversial Casting Notice”