With a performance that proved timely, emotional, and educational, the theatre company Grand Pistachio brought a puppet play with a whole lot of heart to the Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center in Millersville on January 25.
Layer the Walls: Midcentury asked some interesting questions – What if you discovered an old apartment covered with forty layers of wallpaper? What if each layer revealed the stories of past tenants? But on a deeper level, the questions posed by the play were much more resonant – Why do the stories of immigrants matter? And how have they shaped the America we know today?
The play, the second in the Layer the Walls series imagined by Grand Pistachio, explores the living history of a tenement apartment in New York City that was once home to hundreds of new immigrants and migrants. The performers use shadow and rod puppetry, along with half masks, to bring to life the stories of Jewish, Chinese, and Puerto Rican families between the years of 1930 and 1970.
Gwok Sing & Yuk Laan (1930-1965) follows the story of Gwok Sing, who traveled to New York City in 1930 and undergoes an epic journey to enter the country—including jumping into the freezing Hudson River—before he can finally reunite with his family in 1965. Based on the true life story of the company’s choreographer’s father, the piece also explores a young woman’s challenges in adjusting to a new life in America and her discovery of Chinese dance as a way to communicate.
Sadie & Lazer (1948) explores the journey of Lazer Rosenberg, a Holocaust survivor who writes over 400 letters to find his last remaining family member and travels to New York City to start a new life. As he gets to know his long-lost cousin, he tries to find a way to honor his family and previous life amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. In the end, his story makes you wonder—when taking in someone who has survived the unthinkable, who is really saving who?
Finally, Josefina & Carlos (1970), tells the tale of young Josefina, who comes from a family of Puerto Rican immigrants. Watching her mother go in and out of the hospital, Josefina is desperate for change. Her cousin joins the Young Lords to fight for the rights of Puerto Ricans, but Josefina has much to learn about the power of protest and the importance of community.
The engaging use of puppetry and masks made the show a moving experience for both adults and children alike.
“We LOVED this performance,” said one attendee. “It was incredibly moving, visually stunning, and had us engaged in conversations for days afterwards with our kids. These stories have uncovered more stories!”
As part of our ongoing efforts to make the arts more accessible, our young audience members were invited to a pre-show touch show for blind and low-vision patrons, ASL interpretation was performed throughout the play, and the members of the cast hosted a bilingual post-show workshop on shadow and rod puppetry with children who are involved with the PA Migrant Education Program.
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The event was typical of the incredible experiences offered by Grand Pistachio.
“While visiting the NYC Tenement Museum, we learned that 40 layers of wallpaper were found on the walls of an old apartment,” says the company’s show information. “Each piece had been applied by a new immigrant family in an attempt to make the space their own – every layer filled with hopes, dreams, and incredible stories of survival. We created Layer the Walls to honor the voices of people often forgotten in history books. As layers of the set are peeled away, the characters’ stories of immigration are revealed; reminding us of the prejudice our country has faced in the past to more effectively examine the prejudice we face today.”
By highlighting the stories of people who might not be in the history books or cultural records, Grand Pistachio helps young audiences build empathy, see resiliency in action, and provide a broader sense of the world and how their own stories fit into that history.
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