This Saturday, Mar. 2, Ping Chong + Company perform “Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity” in Wellin Hall in the Schambach Center. Hosted by Hamilton College Performing Arts, the event will begin at 7:30 PM. The performance will be free and open to the public, although tickets are required.
“Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity” explores the question of what it means to be Muslim in today’s American political and social landscape. The interview-style performance will highlight the daily experiences of 5 Muslim-Americans who have grown up in a post-9/11 America. Bringing forth varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds, the 5 actors express a range of Muslim identities in their performance, from those who remain observant on a daily basis, to those who have over time drifted away from the faith.
The Santa Barbara Independent
called the piece “a beautiful, funny, and intensely poignant cry for tolerance.” In its own review of the show,
The New York Times
described the performance as “a chorus of voices gently demolishing the notion of Muslim culture as monolithic. Beyond Sacred is an exercise in empathy, not polemics: a lesson in human understanding, drawn from real lives.”
A New York City-based theater company, Ping Chong + Company was founded in 1975 and has since explored the intersectionality of race, culture, art, and technology. With artistic direction from Ping Chong, the company has worked to address various significant cultural and political issues in the modern world. Across Ping Chong + Company productions, relevant commentaries on modern social issues are coupled with innovative theater productions. With formats ranging from puppetry to documentary, as well as other modes of experimental performance, the company’s progressive approach to theater mirrors the nature of the messages of social justice which they promote.
Ping Chong + Company’s “Undesirable Elements” series, started in 1992, has especially homed in on the idea of exploring the stories of individuals who exist as outsiders in their communities. Emphasizing experimental expression, the series focuses on intimate storytelling as effective theatre. Performers in “Undesirable Elements” productions take part in an interview process which goes on to form the script of the particular performance. The result is a raw expression of personal experience in a unique theatric atmosphere. “Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity” is one of Ping Chong’s more recent “Undesirable Elements” endeavors, having premiered in 2015.
With Ping Chong + Company, Chong has more than 40 productions attributed to his name and to the “Undesirable Elements” project. Ping Chong has gone on to win countless awards and fellowships in support of his work. In 2017, he received an Art of Change Fellowship from the Ford Foundation. Before that, in 2014, Ping Chong received a National Medal of Arts from President Obama, in recognition of his pioneering work as a director and choreographer of socially-conscious theater.
This Thursday, Feb. 28, there will be a chance to meet the cast ahead of their performance this Saturday. With support from the Dean of Students and Days-Massolo Center Community of Care Grant, a dinner and round-table discussion with the cast of “Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity” will be happening in Sadove Conference Room, starting at 6:00 PM. The dinner will be open to all, but seating will be limited. Registration is required. For more information, or if you would like to register a non-Hamilton guest, email mreiserm@ hamilton.edu.
