By Marilyn Jozwik
The issue of Immigration has been in the news for a number of years. It has been a political football and a source of much debate on both sides of the aisle.
But those discussions rarely put a face on the people so deeply affected by how this country treats those who have immigrated here.
In “Sanctuary City,” Next Act Theatre gives audiences a front row seat to two young people deeply affected by how the political winds on immigration blow. It is poignant and powerful with performances that totally captivate. Jake Penner directs.
The story takes place post-9/11 in 2001 Newark, New Jersey, following the lives of two high school students brought to America when they were quite young. The boy’s mother, afraid of her immigration status being uncovered, decides to return to her native country. The boy decides to stay and finish high school. He agrees to let a classmate – a girl he has known for years and the daughter of an immigrant – stay with him after she is injured by her abusive stepfather.
Ironically, the show’s creator, Martyna Majok, chose not to give names to the two teens; they are identified as “G” (girl) and “B” (boy). While generic in name, their characters are well developed.
King Hang and Ashley Oviedo in Next Act Theatre’s “Sanctuary City.”
The first part of the play features the boy and girl on an empty stage. Conversations are brief and often repetitious points that magnify the angst and difficulty the two find themselves in as undocumented immigrants. Time periods are marked by a soft ring sound, and the characters quickly scramble to new postures to show a different day and time and situation. It is a clever way to show the passage of time, but also shows how each day is a challenge.
During their difficult senior year of high school, the pair form a tight bond as they struggle with their uncertainty. While the two are staying together, the girl learns that her mother has obtained her citizenship and eventually moves out from her abusive husband. Finally rid of her stepfather, the girl returns home.
It becomes apparent that the only way the boy can become legal is if he marries a citizen, so he proposes to the girl, but she has gotten a scholarship which takes her away from home.
The pair rehearse the details of their lives that they will be asked by authorities if they decide to marry and the roadblock comes with questions of intimacy. And that’s where Henry comes in.
In the second part of the play, the boy is in his own apartment and has waited for the girl to return and then get married. But in those years of waiting, Henry, a law school student, has entered the picture.
While Henry has options, the boy has few. “Why do you want to stay in a country that doesn’t want me in it?” he tearfully asks Henry.
The boy finds himself in an impossible situation – marry the girl and deny who he is, but be safe from immigration authorities? Or stay with Henry and always be looking over his shoulder for authorities?
I loved the contrast between the boy and Henry, played by Joe Lino. Lino’s Henry is brash and confident – his life is full of options and possibilities. His lover, the boy – who represents the many who find that the person they are has no place in the country in which they live – has no good options.
As the boy, King Hang displays his kind and tender nature. During the time of his life that should present a smorgasbord of possibilities he finds only scraps. He could join his mother and leave the country he came to as a small child behind, his education just months from completion. Or, stay and marry a citizen. But the citizen he truly loves he’s not able to marry. Hang is a bundle of emotions as he helps the girl navigate her difficult life, then must decide which path to take for himself. His adopted country has left him out in the cold.
Ashley Oviedo plays the girl and matches Hang’s intensity. There are light moments when the two can simply relax and be fun-loving teenagers, like when they go to the senior prom and for a few brief moments their dilemmas are behind them. Yet, those moments are rare, replaced by the fear of deportation, abuse, loneliness for most of their years.
Through their months together, the girl notices the relationship is more that of a brother and sister. But because of the bond they share, she is willing to accept those limitations in their relationship, maybe hoping intimacy could develop with time.
While “Sanctuary City” offers no solutions for immigrants, it shines a bright light on how lives are affected by the rules they must live by.
If you go:
Who: Next Act Theatre
What: “Sanctuary City”
When: Through Oct. 5
Where: 255 S. Water St., Milwaukee
Tickets/Info: 414-278-0765; info@nextact.org