Idris has written, produced and directed over a dozen plays in such Chicago venues as
The Cultural Center,
Athenaeum Theater,
The Museum of Contemporary Art
and Prop Thtr. In 2004 he was awarded a NEA/TCG Playwright
in Residence grant to explore hip-hop aesthetics with Free Street
Programs. His play BRAISING was selected in the 2005
National New Plays Showcase at Stanford University
and received a world premiere production by
Tricklock Theater Company in Albuquerque, NM in February 2006.
A hip-hop performer and recording artist, Idris was a front man in the fringe hip-hop group
Farm Crew. With Farm Crew he performed extensively across the
region and released two albums with naïveté records.
As a solo performer, he has shared the stage with renowned poets and MCs including
Sonia Sanchez,
Nikki Giovanni, and
Capital D of All Natural.
And Chicago storytellers Ira Glass and
Studs Terkel.
Idris has been featured on WBEZ 91.5 FM and in
numerous Chicago publications including the Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Sun-Times,
Chicago Reader,
Pistil Magazine, and UR Chicago,
in which he was named one of the most influential people in Chicago under the age of 30.
Idris has been a guest lecturer, performer and writing workshop facilitator at institutions like
Young Chicago Authors,
School of the Art Institute,
DePaul University,
Columbia College Chicago and nationally at
Yale, the
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor,
Sarah Lawrence College and the
University of New Mexico.
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