After being forced to cancel in-person stage performances, 蜜柚直播 Theatre Company is launching its digital season with 鈥淎lma,鈥 a new work by emerging playwright Benjamin Benne.
The script has won all sorts of accolades, including ATC鈥檚 2019 Latinx Playwriting Award. The two-character play will be online Aug. 18-22.
The story centers on a mother who came to the States illegally and a daughter who was born here.
鈥淚t follows an evening in the life of this mother and daughter and how they have very different visions of the States,鈥 says Benne, speaking from his family鈥檚 home in Spokane, Washington.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of humor and pathos,鈥 says Elaine Romero, who heads up ATC鈥檚 Latinx Playwriting competition. 鈥淭hrough their conversation you understand why they have the dynamic they have.鈥
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Benne, who is working toward a master鈥檚 in playwriting at Yale School of Drama, first began the script in 2016.
鈥(Donald) Trump was using his platform to aggressively attack immigrants,鈥 says Benne.
That was personal for him 鈥 his mother had legally immigrated from Guatemala.
鈥淚 began thinking of the time that this country provided a pathway to immigrants, and other times when they were turned away and villainized,鈥 says Benne. 鈥淭his play was born out of a moment of deep uncertainty of what would unfold, and there鈥檚 always a thread of hope,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 think we are living in that moment again 鈥 it feels uncertain, maybe scary, but I鈥檓 seeing a ray of light poking through.鈥
鈥淭he award is about a playwright we want to keep hearing from,鈥 says Romero.
鈥淗e has a beautiful (writing) voice. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 looking for in a playwright.鈥
Kathleen Allen has written about the arts in 蜜柚直播 for close to three decades.
