Martyna Majok’s insightful, compassionate play about the plight of dreamers continues through Oct. 9 at the Pasadena Playhouse. [Image courtesy Pasadena Playhouse]
“Any audience members for whom cost is a barrier can email the boxoffice@pasadenaplayhouse.org or call Patron Services at 626-356-7529 to get FREE tickets,” according to Pasadena Playhouse.
Artistic Director Danny Feldman said, “At the Theater, we want everyone to have a chance to go to the theater. Tickets are available for the last two weeks of the city run.”
“The expansion of the Sanctuary City program will provide free tickets to the public, removing cost as a barrier to this activity.”
“We’re committed to making theater for everyone and for expanding the kinds of stories we tell on our historic stage,” a Pasadena Playhouse statement said. “We believe that relevant new plays and fresh voices speak directly to our times and move the American theater forward.”
Directed by Zi Alikhan, “Sanctuary City” focuses on two teenagers trying to get through high school, navigating the pressures of an unstable home, prom invites and graduation – and the threat of deportation. The teenagers are simply known as B and G in the production. When G is naturalized, they hatch a plan to help B, but time and distance threaten to push them apart.
The production stars Ana Nicolle Chavez (Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told) as “G,” Miles Fowler (HBO’s Winning Time) as “B” and Kanoa Goo (ABC’s The Rookie) as “Henry.”
The creative team presents the direction of Zi Alikhan; beautiful design by Chika Shimizu; costume design by Jojo Siu; lighting design by Solomon Weisbard; sound design by John Nobori; intimate choreography by Amanda Rose Villarreal; and stage direction by Brandon Hong Cheng.
AMNY, a theater news publication, called it “a compelling contemporary drama that has enigmatic characters, rising intensity, vigorous argumentation, timely themes, and an underlying sense of humor and compassion.”
Martyna Majok, who authored Sanctuary City, is a Polish-born American playwright who received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play “Cost of Living.” She emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in New Jersey.
Majok studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School. Her plays are often politically engaged, feature dark humor, and experiment with structure and time.
Her breakthrough came with the play “Ironbound” in 2014. As her work gained wider acclaim and recognition, Majok, who has a diverse writing style, debuted “Cost of Living,” “Queens” in 2018, and “Sanctuary City” in 2021.
In April 2021, it was announced that she would adapt “The Great Gatsby” for the Broadway stage, with Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett writing music.
For more information, visit www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/event/sanctuary-city.
