| THREE PLAYWRIGHTS AND LOTS OF AGREEMENT?
by Jason Loewith on 4/22/2008 04:36:00 PM
Last night, Next Theatre was proud to produce Political Acts: The Emerging Arab-American Theater Movement, a panel discussion in partnership with Silk Road Theatre Project and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The 90-minute panel featured three extraordinary playwrights: Yussef El-Guindi, Betty Shamieh, and Heather Raffo - Americans of Egyptian, Palestinian and Iraqi descent, respectively.
The conversation, moderated by Simon O'Rourke of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, was wide-ranging, covering topics from the west's perception of Arab women to Americans' need to culturally pigeonhole individuals to the demonization of the other in times of stress.
Despite the fact that these three playwrights come from very different backgrounds (Yussef was born in Egypt and raised in London; Betty is from San Francisco with two Palestinian parents; and Heather (who grew up in Michigan) didn't really relate to her Iraqi heritage until the first Gulf War) as well as different religions, the three agreed far more than I expected.
As a producer, the most provocative question to me was whether they as artists actively promoted an agenda in their work. While Betty contended strongly that all writing is a political act - you either embrace the status quo or rebel against it - Yussef claimed he writes without an agenda. All three agreed, though, that the political resonance of their work had much to do with what each different audience member brings to the table.
In a few days, you'll be able to listen to the entire panel at www.chicagopublicradio.org/chicagoamplified.
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