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  • 1.  Human-migration or refugee themed plays

    Posted 02-21-2020 11:54

    Has anyone produced/directed any plays with migration or refugee themes that they would recommend?
     

    We've got numerous kids from something like 70 different countries most of which are first generation in the US.  

    We'd love to do more shows with characters / themes that deal with what they are experiencing first hand.  Looking for a few good places to start the search.



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    [Drama] [Dan] []
    [Drama Teacher/Director]
    [Dublin Coffman HS]
    [Dublin] [Ohio]
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  • 2.  RE: Human-migration or refugee themed plays

    Posted 02-21-2020 13:45
    I haven't produced it, but my kids really liked Necessary Targets by Eve Ensler when we read it in class a few years ago. It's about two American women (one a psychologist) trying (perhaps naively) to help Bosnia women refugees. It does deal with sexual assault in an honest way, in case that's a problem. It has a cast of 8 or 9 women and there's no way to add a male character. I think the experiences of the Bosnian women would resonate with many refugees.

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    Ken Buswell
    Drama Teacher
    Peachtree City, GA
    http://mcintoshtheater.org/

    Theater kills ignorance
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  • 3.  RE: Human-migration or refugee themed plays

    Posted 02-22-2020 12:22
    Hello,
        A recommendation for Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka came through this forum. I am in production now. It is a challenging but beautiful script about a refugee boy in search of his mother - adapted from the Odyssey. It's available through play scripts and had a flexible cast. Best wishes.

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    [Nancy][Vitulli]
    [Theater Teacher/Drama Director]
    [CHSW]
    [Cranston] [RI]
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  • 4.  RE: Human-migration or refugee themed plays

    Posted 02-23-2020 20:40
    Faces of Freedom by Cynthia Mercati (Dramatic Publishing) contains a number of different stories of immigrants to the U.S.  Two stories, a young woman from Italy in the early 1900s and a young man from Vietnam in the 1970s, carry all the way through, then there are a number of other contemporary teen characters from all different places, with monologues.  These monologues definitely speak to different experiences.  Running time is about an hour.  When we produced it, every actor had a suitcase, and we used the suitcases to create all the scenery (boat, fence, tables/chairs, countertop, etc.).  

    Another show I've looked at, but not produced, which kind of fits with your theme, is Seedfolks by Paul Fleischmann (Playscripts).  It's based on his YA novel of the same name.  I'm copying the Playscripts blurb here:
    When a young Vietnamese girl plants beans in a vacant lot to connect with the memory of her father, the diverse group of locals who take notice find a connection of their own in a spirited effort to re-imagine their run-down neighborhood. The first year in the life of a community garden unfolds in this "spoken musical," adapted from the award-winning children's novel of the same name, as the voices of characters from far-flung backgrounds converge in a rhythmic hymn to community.  It lists the running time as 40 minutes. "23-75 actors possible"!

    Hope you find the perfect show!

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    Kristin Hall
    Drama Director
    Lincoln Public Schools
    Lincoln MA
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  • 5.  RE: Human-migration or refugee themed plays

    Posted 02-24-2020 08:10
    I second Anon(ymous). We had a great experience with that play.

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    Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
    Theatre Department Coordinator
    Fishersville VA
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  • 6.  RE: Human-migration or refugee themed plays

    Posted 02-24-2020 10:34
    Last year, I produced Rowing to America: The Immigrant Project. (Dramatic Publishing) It's a collection of short plays (comedy and drama) about immigrants from all over and it beautifully covers the immigration experience (which isn't always beautiful). You don't have to do all of the plays in the collection - I found one of them to be inappropriate for high school - but the others were really well received. My school also has a majority population of immigrants (mostly first and second generation) and they enjoyed seeing their stories on stage.

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    Kaila Schwartz
    Theatre Arts, Director
    Milpitas Unified School District
    San Jose CA
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