Berkshire on Stage

Hope for the future is an ephemeral sensation—sometimes seeming like a broken scrap of wood in a stormy sea. That glimmer of hope is the connecting framework of SANCTUARY CITY, a captivating and intelligent production, now playing at TheaterWorks Hartford.

Set in Newark, New Jersey, in a shifting time frame just after September 11, 2001 and going up to 2006, this play is a high energy, cinematic journey into the lives of two young Dreamers, struggling to find their future in a country that refuses to give them a solid footing. SANCTUARY CITY is a masterful, collaborative theatre piece in which the present, the future and the past can exist together, and shapeshift constantly. It is a testament to this company that brought together an amazing creative ensemble to produce such a fresh and impactful dramatization of a familiar problem.

Playwright Martyna Majok has created a jump-cut drama that articulates the love, fear, and stress of two high school students, both undocumented, who endeavor to find a safe place and a future worthy of their belief in the American dream. When we meet “B” he has just learned his mother has returned to their home country. B’s mother had brought them to America ten years ago and after their visas expired, stayed on, working meager jobs and trying to avoid the authorities. Now, when B has only one more year to finish high school, she has gone home, putting in jeopardy his dreams of going to college and beyond. Exhausted by his low-level jobs and trying to keep up in school, he finds solace in his friendship with “G.” G is also a high school student. She shows up at B’s apartment, entering from the fire escape. She is also taking refuge – from the abusive stepfather and/or companion of her mother. Cold and injured, B welcomes his friend inside. They share their precarious situations, cleaving together as undocumented children who are forced to grow up fast in an unaccommodating society.

Majok’s script is quite innovative in its structure. The relationship between B and G is told in short, snappy snatches of dialog that move back and forth in time and place giving information on how they met and insights into the depth of their friendship. It is a relationship that never seems to progress into a romantic liaison, but when G surprisingly gets her papers and can legally remain in America, it opens the way for her to go to college. B, already abandoned by his mother, is left alone in Newark. But G offers him a life preserver—she tells him she will marry him so he can stay in the U.S.

In rapid snippets of scenes, the couple practice answering questions they will have to answer to convince the immigration authorities that it is not a marriage of convenience, and their love is real. It becomes a game that both amuses and scares them. Nevertheless, G goes off to college and time and distance take their toll on the friendship. G finally returns, only to find out that B has a new friend, Henry, and all three young people must reassess their future paths as they struggle with the legal and psychological ramifications.

This unusual script in the wrong hands might be incomprehensible. But in the capable hands of the TheatreWorks creatives, it soars. The combined vision of superb direction, nuanced and impactful acting, and cohesive and inspired scenic, lighting, and projection design and soundscape effectively bring all the elements together into a very satisfying and unique evening of theatre.

The individual and ensemble work of the cast is nearly flawless. Especially in the first part of the play where B (played by Grant Kennedy Lewis) and G (played by Sara Gutierrez) must switch locations, time frames, and stages of the relationship every one or two minutes, the precise and telling selection of body language, vocal tone—greatly enhanced by choices on physical gesture and staging—means we always know when and where we are. As in real life, the memories inform the present. This is truly ingenious and adroit directing by co-directors Jacob G. Padrón and Pedro Bermúdez.  

Actors Lewis and Gutierrez work together like a well-oiled machine, keeping the dramatic tension ever taut. Lewis is dynamic and touching as B. Gutierrez is marvelously nuanced in her performance as G who starts out as a cheeky, sharp-tongued Jersey girl and develops into to a more mature young woman who is soon to graduate college and take her place in the world. Mishka Yarovoy rounds out the cast with a smooth, urbane characterization that is right on point.

Emmie Finckel’s sparse and inventive set design reflects the spare and bloodless existence of B’s apartment. Using interesting projections and video designed by Pedro Bermúdez, a clever sound score by Fabian Obispo, and Paul Whitaker’s precise and evocative lighting, the youths’ sanctuary seems a tangible reflection of their dwindling hope and dreams. 

Like so many contemporary new plays, SANCTUARY CITY effectively brings us into the dark corners of our society. One keeps wanting to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but in keeping with real life, there are no easy answers and few solutions. TheatreWorks is to be commended for bringing this moving and meaningful play to the stage. This is wonderful theatre.

Credits

Playwright: Martyna Majok

Directors: Jacob G. Padrón and Pedro Bermúdez

Set Design: Emmie Finckel

Costume Design: Sarita Fellows

Lighting Design: Paul Whitaker

Projection & Video Design: Pedro Bermúdez

Sound Design: Fabian Obispo

Cast:

G Sara Gutierrez

B Grant Kennedy Lewis

Henry Mishka Yarovoy

Information

SANCTUARY CITY runs March 29 through April 25. For tickets, phone: 860-527-7838 

Performance Times: Tuesdays – Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., Saturdays |  at 2:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. 

Running time: 90 minutes/ no intermission

Theatre: Theatreworks Hartford

Address: 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT 2024

Closing date: April 25, 2024

Website: twhartford.org