Kids Corner

Film/Stage

It Is Powerful To Speak
It Is Powerful To Be Heard:
The Sikh Monologues

JASLEEN KAUR SINGH

 

 

 

It is powerful to speak and it is powerful to be heard.

Storytelling is a means of keeping history alive, of articulating our memories so that we can still remember our own stories.

Last year, as I reflected on my four years of college and the work I had done with the Sikh community both on and off campus, I realized that there was something missing in the ways in which we are portrayed and represented.

The concept of The Sikh Monologues was conceived as a response to the lack of creative means of expressing the Sikh identity to a national audience and as a means of creating an opportunity for the diverse stories the diasporic Sikh-American community has to share.

I developed a detailed timeline including methods of research, cities to visit, and points of contact in each state. Through the single-spaced seven pages of the project proposal, I had convinced myself that this is something that needed to be done.

And so I did.

I’ve taken a year off to pursue The Sikh Monologues project.

I travelled across 14 states in four months and interviewed over 100 Sikh-Americans. And now, the entire project is coming to fruition in the form of a showcase performed on stage!

I have written and compiled several monologues that will be performed by community members on June 15, 2014 in Southern California!

The concept of Sikhs talking for themselves is beautiful to me because so many times, the “Sikh story” is pre-packaged for media and devoid of the nuances and experiences of actual people of the faith.

The interview process of The Sikh Monologues enabled men, women, kids, couples, new immigrants, old immigrants, and of course those wjo are born here, to tell their own stories and give insight on the ways in which gender, socioeconomic class, geographic location, and education can play a role in experiencing America.

And now, I get to share these insights with an audience.

Please join me and your community. And check back right here next week for excerpts from the show!

Date: June 15, 2014
Doors open 6:30 pm
Show begins 7:00 pm

Venue: Flintridge Preparatory School
Norris Auditorium
4543 Crown Ave
La Canada, California 91011
USA


May 30, 2014
 


 

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It Is Powerful To Be Heard:
The Sikh Monologues"









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