THEATER REVIEW: ‘Sanctuary City’ at Fresno State
By Donald Munro
Some thoughts on Fresno State’s just completed run of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok’s “Sanctuary City”:
The subject matter: Any storyline involving the Dreamers (and those in this country who are undocumented but can’t even be considered in that category) is most welcome, indeed. (For a real-world example, see Carlos Rene Castro’s story titled “Stateless,” which ran last fall in Fresno State’s student newspaper, The Collegian.) While Majok’s play still feels ripped from the headlines, it is set about two decades ago, however, with frequent references to 9/11 as if it’s still a fresh and gaping event. The storyline closely follows the relationship between two childhood friends growing up in Newark, New Jersey. We never learn their names. B (played by Chris Ortiz-Belcher), the boy, worries about his future after high-school graduation. Without documentation he feels doomed to an under-the-table job. G (Paulina Marin-Contreras), the girl, does too, but early in the play she gets a big break: Her mother has broken through the immigration red tape and has secured U.S. citizenship. That means her daughter becomes a citizen as well.
The timing: I saw a professional production of “Sanctuary City” at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2022. (Here’s my review.) I’m excited that Fresno State could follow the West Coast premiere of a noted new play less than two years later. It speaks to the important role the university plays in the area’s theater scene; I’m so glad we’re getting these new, talked-about titles. I’m sure a lot had to do with the nimbleness of director Gina Sandí-Díaz.
The production: Sandí-Díaz delivered a poised, confident and thoughtful take on “Sanctuary City.” She and choreographer Kathy Luo delighted in the way the playwright toys with theatrical conventions, particularly in the first act, when we see various snippets of scenes replayed several times to explore different outcomes. The action in these moments, accompanied by a dancelike physicality, came across in stylized jolts, as if we were hitting the rewind button on YouTube. As written, much of the first act, then, became a somewhat tangled series of vignettes, but the storyline never seemed difficult to follow. (There were a few moments when it seems like the playwright overdoes the technique.) The second act, set several years later, unfolds in a more conventional way. Here’s where we met the play’s third character, Henry (Claudio Laso), and caught up with some of the emotional turns of the plot.
The acting: All three actors connected deeply with their characters. I was wowed not only by the line load the actors had to master, particularly in the first act, but also by the quick-draw shifts in emotional tone required by the repeated ‘rewinding” of scenes. Ortiz-Belcher and Laso, familiar faces as actors and directors in the local theater scene, were strong. Marin-Contreras deserves a special shout-out; I think this was a particularly hard-to-pin-down character that required both vulnerability and swagger. She really soared.
The creative team: I’m sure I was influenced by the Berkeley Rep production, but I wasn’t keen on Jeff Hunter’s minimalist scenic design. It was dominated by a trellis-like set piece that felt like it belonged on a suburban California patio, not a modest New Jersey home. I think the play is better suited to cold, institutional realism. (I did like the way that Hunter raised the stage in the Woods Theatre to give it more of a boxing-ring type of feel.) Liz Crifasi’s sound design, which served, among other things, as audio cues for our “rewind scenes,” was stellar.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER SPONSORED CONTENT
The takeaway: When I saw “Sanctuary City” in Berkeley I was struck by the theme of chance. The character of G gets a vital break just before she turns 18: She becomes a citizen. That changes everything for her. I thought at the time about how the so-called “genetic lottery” is a game of chance we all play in terms of our parents. This second time around, however, I found myself thinking less about chance and more about envy. In the play, the pivotal, precipitating event that alters G’s life — and thus her relationship with B — is when she tells him she’s now a citizen. Sandí-Díaz handled that moment beautifully. I could feel the rip and tear in B’s soul. From that point on, the dynamic of the friendship changes. The underlying current of the play became that of B’s envy. And who could blame him? For those Americans who choose the position of smugness and superiority in the battle over this nation’s broken immigration system, it’s important to remember you don’t get to choose where you’re born.
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Jackie Ryle
Thank you, Donald. I always appreciate your knowledgeable and professional perspective. I loved this play, and agree it is so good to have new material.
Patricia Hoffman
Loved the play and was particularly struck by the choreography in Act One as the play jumped from one time frame to the other, not necessarily in chronological order..but easy to follow, thanks to Gina’s direction. On the nose review, Donald.