West Ridge Story Festival, September 2019 - December 2019
This residency with Silk Road Rising took place in the West Ridge Neighborhood of Chicago in the Fall of 2019. It was part of the first-ever West Ridge Story Festival, which highlighted 11 original ten-minute plays written by immigrants, refugees, and longtime residents of West Ridge. The festival was the first major project kicking off for Silk Road Rising’s year long residency in West Ridge. I facilitated the Empathic Playwriting Intensive Course, through which participants adapted and workshopped their narratives for the stage. The festival aimed to give voice to different layers of the immigrant experience by exploring topics like religion, healing from traumatic violence, and assimilation.
"Epic engages students and helps them utilize empathy and imagination to articulate their stories through drama."
West Ridge Story Festival in the news:
http://www.chicagomag.com/arts-culture/December-2019/West-Ridge-Story-Festival-Silk-Road-Rising/
