Silk Road Theatre Project Joins The Goodman To Present THE DNA TRAIL: A GENEALOGY OF SHORT PLAYS ABOUT ANCESTRY, IDENTITY AND UTTER CONFUSION
By: BWW News Desk Apr. 02, 2010
Theatre and science become creative companions for the world premiere production of The DNA Trail: A Genealogy of Short Plays about Ancestry, Identity and Utter Confusion, commissioned by Silk Road Theatre Project and produced in association with Goodman Theatre. Conceived by Jamil Khoury, Artistic Director of Silk Road Theatre Project and directed by Steve Scott of Goodman Theatre, The DNA Trail is a ground-breaking compilation of highly personal, identity-defying short plays by acclaimed writers Philip Kan Gotanda, Velina Hasu Houston, David Henry Hwang, Jamil Khoury, Shishir Kurup, Lina Patel, and Elizabeth Wong. The DNA Trail runs March 2 - April 4, 2010, in Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W. Washington St, Chicago. Press opening is Sunday, March 7, 2010, at 3:00 pm. Development support for The DNA Trail is provided by: The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund; the MAP Fund: a program of Creative Capital, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Production support provided by: ComEd; Sara Lee Foundation; Chicago Community Trust; and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For The DNA Trail, Silk Road Theatre Project commissioned seven diverse, contemporary playwrights to take a genealogical DNA test-a highly contested, sometimes controversial field of scientific inquiry (not to be confused with medical or criminal DNA testing or paternity testing) -and revisit their assumptions about identity politics and the perennial "who am I" question. Starting with a swab of saliva from the cheek (genealogical DNA tests were administered through Family Tree DNA, www.familytreedna.com), the test results inspired this perception-defying collection of short plays in which playwrights' self, family, community, and ethnicity are all up for grabs."In this age of shifting boundaries and fluctuating identities, science and art have more to say to each other than perhaps meets the eye," said Jamil Khoury, who conceived this project as a new way of addressing ethnic categories. "The DNA Trail explores the narrow confines of American identity politics and established race narratives-what resulted is a creative, theatrical approach to addressing our national obsession with hyphens, racial profiling, and demographic data. The fruit of our labor is seven short plays that stand firmly on their own yet work beautifully as a whole. This is not a festival of short plays, although I would have been satisfied if it turned out as such. The DNA Trail is, instead, what I had most hoped for: a cohesive, unified piece of theatre with strong thematic through lines and an identifiable narrative arc. That I was able to convince such a distinguished group of playwrights to take this journey with me is testimony both to the power of ancestry and the innate desire to discover something new and unexpected about ourselves."Mother Road by Velina Hasu Houston
That Could Be You by Lina Patel
WASP: White Arab Slovak Pole by Jamil Khoury
Bolt from the Blue by Shishir Kurup
A Very DNA Reunion by David Henry Hwang
Child is Father to Man by Philip Kan Gotanda
Cricket, an assassin on the b-ball court, has just led the high school team to sweet victory, and pro recruiters saw every moment of the record shattering game. But her little sister, Emma, finds Cricket in the locker room, deep in a post game funk. Just when life seems like a slam dunk, what's bringing Cricket down? Emma finds out then whips up an ingenious solution to Cricket's problem. In this fantastical journey, the siblings learn how their distant past affects their present day identities. Artistic Statement from Playwright Elizabeth Wong
I'm in the N9a haplogroup. On the human genome migration map, it's a brown line trekking eastward, one of the oldest lines out of Africa. With my parents and grandparents all born in mainland China, I just assumed I was a pureblood product. I thought the test results would verify me as a faded mimeograph of the first Peking woman, living proof for the argument that the early Chinese had developed independently of Africa, and that Peking Man was indeed my distant cousin. But to my surprise, my test results suggested otherwise. It's mind blowing to find myself connected to a female ancestor who made that long, arduous trek out of Africa several millennia ago, fleeing floods, following the herds, battling wits with wild lands, and even wilder men. My play celebrates this epic journey with a 21st century twist, and examines how these genetic echoes contributed to make me and my three million base pairs into a thoroughly modern American girl of Chinese ancestry. To me, there is an elegant continuity in our very cells, relevant to the present, connecting us to the past, and giving us a glimpse of the future, if we dare to look. Playwright Bio
Elizabeth Wong is a recipient of the Tanne Foundation Award for artistic achievement. Her plays include Letters to a Student Revolutionary, Dating & Mating in Modern Times, China Doll, and Kimchee & Chitlins. She's received commissions from The Kennedy Center for a libretto of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince; from Honolulu Theatre for Youth for an original musical The Magical Bird; and from Silk Road Theatre Project for Dragon Sky, a live-action videogame. Wong was a writer for the sitcom All-American Girl, an editorial columnist for The Los Angeles Times, and she holds an MFA from NYU'S Tisch School of the Arts. Currently, she is writing a play about FDR and his Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the woman who helped create social security.Mother Road by Velina Hasu HoustonAbout the Play
A woman-Perpetua-ventures into the Mojave Desert to find another woman-Eva-with whom she shares a mother, the grief of loss, and perhaps even other things. Perpetua believes that blood ties are binding, while to Eva genetics mean very little. This intimate yet vast play explores the delicate, sometimes fragile dimensions of which family are made. Artistic Statement from Playwright Velina Hasu Houston
The exploration of my DNA was a "mother road" for me, the revelation of my deep ethnic heritage. The "mother" in the title refers to creation and release, not only of our maternal sources, but also of mothering ourselves. The "road" refers to the journey of risk, assumption, action, challenge, and education that we must take in order to navigate the process of finding our identity and to the continual mining, excavation, and cultivation of re-invention. But one genetic issue provoked me beyond ethnicity: gene mutations that can lead to breast cancer. Many women who seek genetic risk assessments discover a fifty to eighty percent risk for breast cancer, and opt for voluntary bilateral mastectomy. The notion of breasts lost out of fear or caution fascinates me, in part because my Japanese grandmother's death was complicated by breast cancer, but also because of the enigma of breasts in society as sources of nurture and also allure. They often, for better or for worse, define women in the eyes of many men. The entire brassiere industry exists to support (and sometimes flaunt) them. In Mother Road, I am compelled to separate the definition of a woman from the enigma of cleavage by exploring issues of loss, and by re-looking at oneself in the struggle to make sense of one's life and living. Playwright Bio
Velina Hasu Houston is Professor, Director of Dramatic Writing, Associate Dean, and Resident Playwright at the School of Theatre, University of Southern California. Her internationally acclaimed career includes commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, LA Opera, Asia Society, Lila Wallace Readers Digest Foundation, Mark Taper Forum, Hawai'i Foundation on Culture & Arts, Jewish Women's Theatre Project, Mixed Blood Theatre, and others. Houston is a Commissioner for the Department of State's Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, and a member of the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America, west; the Dramatists Guild, and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights. Houston served as Research Advisor for Tokyo-based Studies on Modernization of Classic Greek Theatre and Myth in Contemporary British, Irish, and American Poetic Drama and Theatre. That Could Be You by Lina Patel About the Play
Meet Addy, Teddy, Cyndy and Gene. Are they products of their environments? Or are they products of their genes? If we switched roles with the person sitting next to us, would we be the same person or would our new environment change who we are? This thought provoking piece examines and subverts our expectations about genetics, parenthood, and identity.Artistic Statement from Playwright Lina Patel
That Could Be You was the last of three plays I wrote. The gestation period of this play was the same as the gestation period of the adoption of my newborn baby: about a year. I was concurrently dealing with people whose reactions belied a belief (which I harbored, too) that an adopted child cannot be the same as your "own" child. As the adoption progressed, I thought, there is no way I can write about this! Besides, I was fascinated by the science and by the limitations of a cheek swab to determine identity. My swab showed that my ancestors, after a brief stop in Ukraine, have been reliably South Asian, whatever that meant twenty thousand years ago. I was hoping for something revelatory, like Scottish ancestry, which might explain my visceral and abiding love of bagpipes and scotch. As our deadline approached, I sent in two different plays and then, furtively, this third play. It was perhaps inevitable that Silk Road chose the most personal play. I learned that DNA tells you what--hair color, say--but that nurture tells you who. Raising my baby also broke the blood-bond bias I had. Science cannot solve the riddle of who we are or explain our intense loves. Love is without boundary, defies logic, and slays fear. It makes me think of our ancestors who also knew no boundaries, defied the logic of staying in one place, and were fearless in their expansion out of Africa. Playwright Bio
Lina Patel is a writer and an actor. Her first play, Sankalpan (Desire) was a semifinalist for the Sundance Theatre Institute. Last year, Patel was invited by Center Theater Group to develop a new play over a nine-month writer's retreat; The Ragged Claws is being further developed at the Lark in New York. For more information about Patel's writing, visit www.southasianplaywrights.org. As a critically acclaimed actor, Patel has performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Taper, Pasadena Playhouse, and The Globe Theaters. She has also narrated books for Penguin and Random House. Television appearances include guest starring roles on 24, CSI, Numb3rs, and Medium. Lina Patel thanks Jamil Khoury and Malik Gillani for their vision, support, and unrivalled passion for the American theatre. WASP: White Arab Slovak Pole by Jamil KhouryAbout the Play
What does a person named Jamil look like? Swarthy? Mustached? African American? What if your name is Jamil and you're none of the above? And what if your origins are Arab and Slavic? Where then do you fall within the slippery slope of whiteness? Cultural confusion and comedy come together in this playfully provocative piece that takes a hard look at how we identify ourselves and how others perceive us.Artistic Statement from Playwright Jamil Khoury
My interest in matters DNA has always been more sociological than scientific. While I appreciate what science tells us about the past, what excites me most is locating the past in our present day lives. It's the cultural rather than the physical, particularly as the "physical" doesn't always align with everything else. In writing WASP: White Arab Slovak Pole, I opted to navigate my mixed cultural heritage (Arab and Slav) in a manner that's playful and revealing. I also sought to confront the assumptions ascribed to my name, Jamil, and the confusion elicited by my white skin. For as long as I can remember, I have been asked to either contextualize myself or justify myself, in order to make sense to others. Although typically rooted in sincere curiosity and well intentioned disbelief, this line of questioning demands that I respond. I try to do so graciously. Sometimes I get frustrated, sometimes angry, but usually, "what are you?" makes for a good ice breaker and teachable moment. Writing WASP was like taking a stroll down identity politics lane. But it also forced me to recognize that underneath all my pat answers and automated defenses is a reservoir of estrangement from the communities I belong to and feel obligated to defend. Playwright Bio
Jamil Khoury conceived of and commissioned The DNA Trail and is honored to be working with such a distinguished group of playwrights. Khoury's creative work focuses largely on Middle Eastern themes and questions of Diaspora. He is particularly interested in the intersections of culture, national identity, sexuality, and class. In fall of 2009, Khoury conceived of and curated the highly successful Silk Road Cabaret: Broadway Sings the Silk Road, marking SRTP's first foray into cabaret. His play Precious Stones won the 2003 After Dark Award for Outstanding New Work and has been performed in ten cities across the U.S. Precious Stones will be filmed as a cineplay in summer of 2010. Khoury's play Fitna was performed at University Theatre of The University of Chicago and his play Azizati was performed at Café Voltaire.Bolt from the Blue by Shishir Kurup About the Play
For Rishi, whose family is scattered across the globe, conversations with loved ones take place over cell phones and the internet. They exist as snatches of disembodied voices and email messages that allow the illusion of intimacy and of staying in close touch. But when his young cousin, Hari, sends a message of despair from across the ocean, Rishi comes face to face with the crippling limitations of communicating over long distances as he attempts to release the unspoken truths that haunt his family. Artistic Statement from Playwright Shishir Kurup
Identity, I believe, is fixed and mutable, of no consequence and of the utmost importance, and a core value that I find burdensome. Identity is both sacred and profane in that it creates an aura of belonging while concurrently asking us to plant totems and draw lines of absolutes. Opposing truths worthy of exploration? Absolutely. And so I thought, "A 12 minute musical! About genetic markers and identity! Something short yet shattering! Perhaps a modern day Ruddigore!" And since David Hwang and Philip Gotanda are also musicians, I had a funny little mental picture of us playwrights playing in the pit orchestra. Bolt from the Blue, however, elbowed its way into my consciousness and rendered the question of opposing truths temporarily moot. I realized that a musical would have put me in a place of comfort and ease, and I chose, instead, to address this pressing matter which was weighing on me: an issue involving a close family member that was putting me in a place of personal dis-ease. I answered that call with this play. In terms of personal genetic identity, however, I am acutely aware of how disease binds me as firmly to my ancestry as any other "marker" of connection.Playwright Bio
Shishir Kurup is a member of the Nationally renowned Cornerstone Theater Company. His dark comedy, Merchant on Venice, which deals with Hindu/Muslim tensions, has won California Arts Council, Kennedy Center, and TCG extended collaborations awards, and premiered at Silk Road Theatre Project to rave reviews and an extended run. Kurup is a Princess Grace Fellow and one of only six artists to receive the Audrey Skirball Kenis T.I.M.E. grant for his body of work. His feature film Sharif Don't Like It, which deals with the loss of Habeas Corpus, nears completion. Kurup has extensive film and television credits: Lost, Sleeper Cell, Alias, NYPD Blue, Monk and recurring roles on Surface and Heroes. His most profound and instructive creation, however, is his daughter Tala.A Very DNA Reunion by David Henry HwangAbout the Play
Bob is annoyed with his parents, who keep bugging him to get a job. Luckily, Bob has finally found his real family: a DNA test shows that he comes from the same haplogroup as Cleopatra and Genghis Khan! Bob's illustrious ancestors pay him a visit and assure him that his lineage makes him worthy of royal treatment. But how will Bob handle his pesky parents? This hilarious family reunion gleefully skewers the imprecise science of DNA testing.Artistic Statement from Playwright David Henry Hwang
Jamil Khoury came up with the coolest idea ever for a play commission: gather a group of Asian American playwrights to take DNA ancestry tests and definitively answer the question virtually all Asian Americans are asked with annoying regularity: "Where are you from? No, where are you really from?" I imagined resolving mysterious stories from my family's past. Did I indeed have a great-great-grandfather who was British? Could I have some Filipino blood? Would that explain the texture of my hair? The actual results were a grave disappointment. Science today, at least in commercial DNA testing, can reveal only the broadest outlines of one's ancestral past. I came to see DNA testing as the pseudoscientific stepchild of the past lives craze from earlier decades. As Shishir Kurup remembers, everyone thought they were reincarnated from Cleopatra.
A Very DNA Reunion grew out of my frustration with the pathetic vagaries of my test results and the unrealistic expectations raised by today's peddlers of DNA ancestry testing. It is also an affectionate nod to Act I of Caryl Churchill's great play Top Girls. Using DNA to solve the riddle of identity turned out to be an empty fantasy. It was also a lazy one. I can hope to know myself better by doing the hard work of self examination--not by swabbing a Q-tip along the inside of my cheek.Playwright Bio
David Henry Hwang is a Tony Award winner (and three time Tony Award nominee), a three time Obie Award winner, and a two time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His work includes the plays M. Butterfly, Golden Child, Yellow Face, and FOB; the Broadway musicals Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (coauthor), the revised Flower Drum Song, and Disney's Tarzan; and the operas The Voyage (music by Philip Glass), Ainadamar (music by Osvaldo Golijo and winner of two 2007 Grammy Awards), The Silver River (music by Bright Sheng), and The Fly (music by Howard Shore). Child is Father to Man by Philip Kan GotandaAbout the PlayWhile his father lay dying, a son reflects. Emotionally distanced from his father and yet inextricably tethered to him, the son rediscovers what it means to be a child, a parent, and a man. This poetic, expansive piece explores both the intimacy and remoteness of family.Artistic Statement from Playwright Philip Kan GotandaDuring periods of my life I would have the urge to take on a new name. I have been Paolo, Pablo, Joaquim, and Felix. What prompted this curious activity, I've no clue; it was an impulse. But why choose these types of names, and why have such an impulse to begin with? It was one of those unanswered mysteries...until I was approached by Jamil and Malik and they uttered the words, The DNA Trail. Finally, my suspicions about living past lives in the greater continent of "Hispania" or Portugal (where I'm sure I spent many a past life sipping cups of bica, throwing back glasses of ginjinha) would be confirmed. Certainly I could not just be from Japan but rather from some place exotic, sexy, virile-yup, Portugal. Nope. My tribe started in Africa, stopped in Japan...and stayed Japanese. So there I was with not much more than I already knew about my lineage. How, then, to feed the imagination and come up with a play? I waited. Others turned in inspired drafts. Final deadlines loomed and still nothing. Then, during the flight in for a recent meeting, something began to take shape. The image was of a grown son standing next to his father's body in a funereal setting. The rest followed quickly. But what of Joaquim, Paolo, and the others? Part of the continuing mystery. Playwright BioPhilip Kan Gotanda is the creator of one of the largest bodies of Asian American themed work, produced and studied throughout the world. Gotanda is known for experimenting with a range of aesthetic styles. He wrote the text and directed the production of Maestro Kent Nagano's Manzanar: An American Story, an original symphonic work with narration. He is in collaboration with noted opera singer John Duykers and composer Max Gitech Duykers on a new opera, The Apricots of Andujar. Philip Kan Gotanda is also an independent filmmaker. His film, Life Tastes Good, was presented at the Sundance Film Festival. He is currently developing Living J-Town with his production company, Joe Ozu Films. Gotanda is the recipient of the Guggenheim as well as other awards and honors. Silk Road Theatre Project showcases playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean backgrounds, whose works address themes relevant to the peoples of the Silk Road and their Diaspora communities. Through the mediums of theatre, video, education, and advocacy, we aim to deepen and expand representation in American culture.
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