Controversial Play about a Muslim-American Family Opens in Chicago

October 5, 2005

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-silkroad05.html

On October 5, 2005 the Chicago Sun-Times reported, "In the Silk Road Theatre Project's upcoming play, a devout Muslim-American family's seemingly uneventful life quickly skids off the road and slams into a brick wall -- hard. One son decides he doesn't believe in God. Another has a homosexual tryst. And the suburban California clan's only daughter suddenly isn't sure she wants to go through with an arranged marriage to an Egyptian man she hardly knows. The world premiere of 'Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith'... comes four years after 9/11 and in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan... '"Ten Acrobats" is unique in that it's a Muslim-American family drama steeped in both Muslim identity and the American experience. It shows that being Muslim and American is not some oxymoron, but rather a perfect fit,' said Malik Gillani, the theater's executive director. While many local Muslim groups welcome the artistic effort, they aren't exactly warming up to the atheist and gay elements of the production, because leaving the faith and same-sex relationships are regarded as sins in Islam."