By Jason Hagey and Alisha Hagey
Produced by Round House Theatre, one of the leading professional theatres in the Washington, DC area, Working Theater’s production of American Dreams at Salt Lake Acting Company creates not only an interactive, virtual experience but one that provokes its audience to make decisions in a unique and powerful way. Created and developed by Leila Buck and Tamilla Woodard with Jens Rasmussen in collaboration with Osh Ghanimah, Imran Sheikh, and the company, an audience from across the United States is tasked with deciding which one of three game show contestants will be allowed to be a citizen of this country. The production is filled with antics across the spectrum of game shows: the quiz show, the talent show, and something akin to a dating show. The contestants prove their knowledge, show their skills, and ultimately plead for the opportunity to be a part of the United States of America’s citizenry.
Leila Buck (playwright) has a unique perspective as a Lebanese American playwright, performer and inter-cultural educator. She has lived across the United States and across the world. Her play is partially scripted and partially improvised. She creates a framework mirroring our majority rule, winner-take-all democratic process that is layered in subtleties and, at times, direct in its attack on our nation’s flaws. Her work demands the audience to consider what we really value as Americans and what those values mean for the more than one million potential immigrants to the nation each year.
American Dreams is deftly directed by Tamilla Woodard, an associate director for Broadway’s Hadestown. Her work with the actors is flawless. The world of the production feels real and immediate, despite being streamed to your computer. Much like reality shows where we vote for our favorite contestants, she has created a similar mood. If you didn’t know you were watching a production, you would think it was reality television. Ryan Patterson (Scenic Design), Kerry McCarthy (Costume Design), Stacey Derosler (Lighting Design), Sam Kusnetz (Sound Design), Katherine Freer (Video Design) and ViDCo (Virtual Performance Design) have their hands full creating an environment that is seamless and believable.
Bringing us into this interactive world is India Nicole Burton (Announcer) and our two hosts, Jens Rasmussen (Chris) and Leila Buck (Sherry). Their tenor and carriage exemplify television game hosts. They introduce us to the rest of the ensemble, our hopeful cast of Imran Sheikh (Usman), Andrew Aaron Valdez (Alejandro), and Ali Andre Ali (Adil). Each contestant represents specific American values.
Sheikh is endearing as a Pakistani Muslim. His dreams of coming to America are built around fabrications of television and his personality is one of innocence and naivete. Sheikh is lovably human and seems like he would be your best, if not earnest, friend.
Ali is a Christian chef from Bethlehem. He has thoroughly studied the United States, is knowledgeable and proves that he has useful skills to bring with him. Perhaps more than the other two, he pleads for his opportunity to come to the United States with a sincerity that is a combination of inspiring and heartstring-pulling.
Through the course of the play, the three contestants go from what feels like an objective evaluation to a painful and wrenching interrogation. The first questions are about mundane topics based on the Constitution and Federal government. The next step in their contest requires them to perform, as if they were on America’s Got Talent or a beauty pageant. The following stage is where they tell us their American dream, trying desperately to create an emotional connection with us, their audience and judges. Finally comes “The Hot Seat,” where all three are attacked one by one. The hosts’ weapons of choice are questions about the contestants’ past, their heritage, their faith, and their political feelings.
As the contestants endure the mounting pressure and ever-growing humiliation, we the audience become complicit in their fates. Each step of the way, we are deciding who is ‘worthy’ and who is ‘not worthy’ of participation in our country’s citizenship. When it comes down to it, American Dreams has created a representation of potential immigrants that personalizes them to the point of making the decision of each individual’s worth harder to gauge. They pull us out of the overarching politics of “immigrants” and “refugees,” as dehumanizing monikers, and help us see both the plight and promise of real and relatable people. I noticed at the end that one of the audience members said, “That was hard.” They were not wrong. Still, Rasmussen flatly says, “We can’t just let anyone in.”
Though the question is, “Who will you allow to be a citizen?” the real question that American Dreams pulses with throughout is, “Can’t we just let everyone in?” There are no answers to be found here. Instead, there is a kind, but emphatic, rage against our immigration system. No doubt, this is a political production. To amplify the importance of voting, a theme present in American Dreams, Salt Lake Acting Company has partnered with Vote Forward (VoteFwd.org), a nonprofit that organizes letter writing campaigns targeted toward underrepresented voters across the nation.
American Dreams is a call to action that could not be more appropriate as elections are less than a month away. Before you vote, be sure to see American Dreams. This is an experience worth every penny you can pay.
Salt Lake Acting Company Presents American Dreams by Leila Buck
Salt Lake Acting Company – Upstairs Theatre, 168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103
October 14 – 18, 2020
Wednesday – Saturday @ 7:30 PM
Sunday @ 1:00 PM. & 6:00 PM.
Ticket cost: Pay What You Can; Free for SLAC Subscribers
Contact: 801-363-7522
SLAC Website
SLAC Facebook Page
*This show contains some strong language
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