CHICAGO — Jamil Khoury came up with the idea for his newest play "Mosque Alert" back in 2010 during the controversy surrounding the proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York City.
"This was not something isolated to Lower Manhattan. This is a national phenomenon," Khoury, a Loop resident said.
The play, about zoning laws and fear of Muslims as it relates to plans for a new mosque, is set in the Southwest suburb of Naperville — which had a real-life mosque controversy.
The show, which runs through May 1 at the Chicago Temple Theatre at 77 W. Washington St., is the latest from Silk Road Rising, a theater company co-founded by Khoury in 2002 in response to "the backlash against Arab Americans, Muslim Americans and South Asian Americans" after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The play is fictional. It's a fictional story about a fictional mosque set in Naperville," said Khoury, who was born in Chicago and grew up in the Northwest suburbs before returning. "I really believe this play is really relevant to the cultural zeitgeist right now with fear of Islam, fear of immigrants and the violence (in Belgium."
Tickets are $25 through the end of previews on April 1. Regular run tickets are $35. Purchase tickets and check showtimes on Silk Road Rising's website.
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