Cry for Peace

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The cruelty
The massacre
The genocide

Think about the past
Think about the future

"Oh miserable nation,
ruled by a usurping, murderous tyrant,
when will you see peaceful days again?" From Macbeth

The Coming World

The Coming World by Christopher Shinn

Directed by Azar Kazemi

The Blind Owl returns to the Chicago theatre scene with Christopher Shinn's poetic play that tackles class, violence, and intimacy. "The Coming World" catalogs a time in our not too distant history when DVDs were phasing out VHS, social networking had not quite replaced human connection, and our generation had yet to become defined by that fateful day in September. The political and personal collide in this raw and candid look at a pre-9/11 America.

Actors:
Alex Hardaway (Ed/Ty)
Aislinn Kerchaert (Dora)

Creative Team:
Azar Kazemi (Director)
Elizabeth Fiala (Production Stage Manager)
Jacob Shuler (Production Dramaturg)
Daniel Friedman (Lighting Designer)

Prop Thtr
3502 N. Elston Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618
United States

Julia

Vanessa Redgrave receives Oscar award for her magnificent performance in Fred Zinnemann's "Julia" (1977). Listen to her speech.

A scene from Julia

Silence!

How will you forgive the world's silence on your death?

Massacred Iraqi young men by Daesh!

Magnificent Arts

If you would want to understand soul of Iran, you should study their arts and architecture.

Photos by Mohammad Domiri

The Ballad of Narayama

“This haunting, kabuki-inflected version of a Japanese folk legend is set in a remote mountain village where food is scarce and tradition dictates that citizens who have reached their seventieth year must be carried to the summit of Mount Narayama and left there to die. The sacrificial elder at the center of the tale is Orin (Kinuyo Tanaka), a dignified and dutiful woman who spends her dwindling days securing the happiness of her loyal widowed son with a respectable new wife. Filmed almost entirely on cunningly designed studio sets, in brilliant color and widescreen, The Ballad of Narayama is a stylish and vividly formal work from Japan’s cinematic golden age, directed by the dynamic Keisuke Kinoshita.” The movie was made in 1958.

Read a  review... 

Watch the new version of the same folk legend made in 1985

First They Came....

 

First They Came....

"First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me"



By: Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

Connecting strength and vulnerability of the creative brain

“Why have so many creative minds suffered from mental illness? Nancy Andreasen, Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa, has devoted decades of study to the physical differences in the brains of writers and other highly accomplished individuals. Produced in partnership with The Atlantic magazine, Judy Woodruff visits Andreasen to explore her work.”

PBS, Newshour interviews Nancy Coover Andreasen an American neuroscientist and neuropsychiatrist on strength and vulnerability of the creative brain. Dr.  Andreasen currently holds the Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.