Playwright
Director
Executive Producers
Director of Photography & First Camera Operator
Editor & Color Correction
First Assistant Director & Second Camera Operator
Second Assistant Director & Properties Designer
Line Producer & Script Development Dramaturg
Post-Production Script Editing Support
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Original Compositions
Foley Artist
Location Sound Mixer
Post-Production Sound
Gaffer
Grip
Hair and Make-Up Artist
Hair and Make-Up Assistant
Hair and Make-Up Assistant
Script Supervisor
Technical Director
Charge Artist
Production Assistants
(in order of appearance)
Alka Nayyar as DALILA KHAN
Noha El Ganzouri as LAYLA NASER
Annalise Raziq as NASREEN QUDSI
Fouad Teymour as OMAR QABBANI
Kamal Hans as IMAM YUSSEF BAIG
Gabrielle Lott-Rogers as DONNA HILL
Molly Lyons as ROSE GOODWIN
Rachel Sledd as KIMBERLY JONES
Megan Storti as SALLY GILLESPIE
Steve Merle as PAUL SCHMIDT
Luke Daigle as JEFFREY BAKER
Kaelan Strouse as CARTER THOMAS
Robin Chaplik as REVEREND TINA CALHOUN
Sami Ismat as MOHAMMAD GHAZALI
David Rhee as WILL PARK
Anu Bhatt as HADIYA YAQUB
Revon Yousif as ZAIN BADAWI
Adrianne Cury as IRAQI CHRISTIAN WOMAN
Cheryl Hamada as JAPANESE AMERICAN WOMAN
Annelyse Ahmad as DISSIDENT MUSLIM WOMAN
(in alphabetical order)
Yusra Al-Shawaf, Jaclyn Amber, Francesca Atian, Danny Au, Bryan Bosque, Cathleen Brumback, Bonita Bryant, Brandon Campbell, Gordon Chow, Meg Collins, Kate Cuellar, Chelsea David, Jill Dempsey, Charlie Diaz, Henrietta Dombrovskaya, Tina El Gamal, Carol Emmons, Chuck Emmons, Brent Ervin-Eickhoff, Jessica Ervin-Eickhoff, Al Gillani, Malik Gillani, Mabel Guzman, Mary Lou Haddad, Harrison Hapin, Melissa Hubbert, Aayisha Humphrey, Heidi Katz, Michael Kocken, Sophie Hernando Kofman, Vanessa Kucera, Teresa Kuruvilla, Andrea Lee, Hind Makki, Ina Marks, Cookie Marks, Jeanne Martineau, Michael Mead, Evemarie Moore, Rosalind Morris, Cody Pariset, Joanna Riopelle, Dr. Elaine Ades Sachnoff, Lissa Schwartz, David Morgan Shaw, Brian Sheridan, Rachel Silvert, Linda Smedberg, Ian Michael Smith, Toma Lynn Smith, Susanna Souza, Tracy Strimple, Carol Ann Tan, Krishna Tateneni, Tiffany Taylor, Priyank Thakkar, Anne Thompson, Kate Wulle-Dugan, Xu
(in alphabetical order)
Yusra Al-Shawaf, Jaclyn Amber, Francesca Atian, Danny Au, Bryan Bosque, Cathleen Brumback, Bonita Bryant, Brandon Campbell, Gordon Chow, Meg Collins, Kate Cuellar, Chelsea David, Jill Dempsey, Charlie Diaz, Henrietta Dombrovskaya, Tina El Gamal, Carol Emmons, Chuck Emmons, Brent Ervin-Eickhoff, Jessica Ervin-Eickhoff, Al Gillani, Malik Gillani, Mabel Guzman, Mary Lou Haddad, Harrison Hapin, Melissa Hubbert, Aayisha Humphrey, Heidi Katz, Michael Kocken, Sophie Hernando Kofman, Vanessa Kucera, Teresa Kuruvilla, Andrea Lee, Hind Makki, Ina Marks, Cookie Marks, Jeanne Martineau, Michael Mead, Evemarie Moore, Rosalind Morris, Cody Pariset, Joanna Riopelle, Dr. Elaine Ades Sachnoff, Lissa Schwartz, David Morgan Shaw, Brian Sheridan, Rachel Silvert, Linda Smedberg, Ian Michael Smith, Toma Lynn Smith, Susanna Souza, Tracy Strimple, Carol Ann Tan, Krishna Tateneni, Tiffany Taylor, Priyank Thakkar, Anne Thompson, Kate Wulle-Dugan, Xu
Obstacle Course was developed in part during Jamil Khoury’s two-week residency at Tufts University in Medford, Massachussetts. The residency culminated in two public performances, produced and performed by Tufts University students. The script was further developed at Silk Road Rising and produced as a staged reading at The InterReligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary’s Raging Issues of Today (RIOT) Conference in 2018.
To the Asian Giving Circle, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency for partially supporting the making of Obstacle Course.
We’d also like to thank:
Christopher McCoy of McCoy Architects LLC for designing the fictional Al Andalus Library and Community Center
Tufts University Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
The InterReligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary Raging Issues of Today Conference, 2018
First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple
Heather S. Nathans, Irem Secil Reel Sen, Lisa Seiwert, Manal Farhan, Emma Futhey, Michael Menendian, Reza Mirsajadi, and Kim Schultz
February 21-27, 2019 | Silk Road Rising, Chicago, IL (seven public screenings)
March 3, 10, 24, and 31, 2019 | Sanctuary, Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries, ABC-7.2, Chicago, IL
March 21, 2019 | Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
March 22, 2019 | 150 N Michigan Ave Building, Chicago, IL
May 1, 2019 | Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, LA
May 22, 2019 | City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, Chicago, IL
June 2, 2019 | First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, Chicago, IL
June 6, 2019 7:30 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
June 7, 2019 2:30 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
June 21, 2019 7:00 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
June 22, 2019 3:01 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
June 23, 2019 2:00 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
July 6, 2019 3:05 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
July 23, 2019 11:05 pm | CAN TV19, Chicago, IL
August 29, 2019 | Faith Over Fear, Islamic Society of North American Conference 2019, Houston, TX
October 30, 2019 | Diversity in American Theater, Professor Krysta Dennis, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
November 17, 2019 | Indian Boundary Park, Chicago Park District, Chicago, IL
November 18, 2019 | Indo-American Center, Chicago, IL
November 21, 2019 | Northtown Branch, Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL
December 3, 2019 | Design Museum of Chicago, Chicago, IL
December 4, 2019 | High Ridge YMCA, Chicago, IL
January 17, 2020 | Asian Human Services Adult and Child Learning Center, Chicago, IL
January 23, 2020 | Middle Eastern Immigrant and Refugee Alliance, Chicago, IL
February 16, 2020 | Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (co-sponsored with American Islamic College and Chicago Theological Seminary), Chicago, IL
March 2, 2020 | Teach-In on Social Justice, Benedictine University, Lisle, IL
May 11, 2020 | Virtual Workshop, Asian Human Services, Chicago, IL
May 18, 2020 | Virtual Workshop, Office of Institutional Diversity & Equity, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
August 6, 2020 | Virtual Workshop, Houston Coalition Against Hate, Houston, TX
October 8, 2020 | Virtual Workshop, Honors Explore Chicago Theatre, Professor Doug Long, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
July 7, 2021 | Virtual Screening at Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL
February 9, 2022 | Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
October 3, 2022 | Virtual Screening, The Saints, Chicago, IL
March 24, 2023 | Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH
Review "The Arts Section," WDCB 90.9 FM, August 23, 2020
Set in Naperville, Illinois, Obstacle Course explores reactions to a proposed Islamic Community Center on the site of a beloved local landmark. Allyship, municipal politics, and Islamophobia all intersect in this head-on collision between Not in My Backyard fear mongering, well-intentional liberalism, and the peaceful practice of faith.
Obstacle Course was adapted from Jamil Khoury's full-length stage play Mosque Alert, commissioned and produced by Silk Road Rising in 2016, directed by Edward Torres.
