The Process
Inspired by the 2010 “ground zero mosque” controversy in New York City, playwright Jamil Khoury set out to investigate recurring resistance to the building of mosques in American communities and the intersections of Islamophobia, zoning, and public policy. Khoury developed a ten-step civic engagement and new play development process that included digital and live theatre components, and invited virtual and in-person audiences to weigh in on both artistic decision-making and the politics at hand. This first-of-its-kind initiative effectively crowd-sourced a creative process and encouraged open, unfiltered public dialogue, aiding Khoury in the writing of his full-length play, Mosque Alert.
The Mosque Alert process ultimately generated a constellation of works and performances, including:
The Play Development Videos
Early in the process (2011 - 2013), the Mosque Alert creative team, led by playwright/director Jamil Khoury and videomaker Deann Baker, developed and disseminated thirty-six videos, including two video essays, twenty-four single-character video blogs, nine two-character conflict scenes, and a compilation video. With the release of each video, Khoury posed questions to which online participants responded, providing invaluable insights and feedback as he wrote the full-length script. To date, tens of thousands of people around the world have engaged with these videos.
It's important to note that the six original characters featured in this digital iteration of Mosque Alert greatly informed what would become an eleven-character stage play.