The world premiere of "A Better Place to Be" at The Growing Stage – Children's Theatre of N.J. Feb. 15 focuses on our similarities, not our differences.
Stephen Fredericks’ “A Better Place To Be” – which will have its world premiere run Feb. 15-17 at The Growing Stage – Children’s Theatre of N.J. – tells the stories of two immigrant journeys separated by more than 100 years.
One tale is based on the playwright’s grandmother solo journey from Norway in the 1880s. The other features a Syrian family fleeing war in contemporary times.
The seemingly disparate stories overlap in many ways.
“We talk about what makes us different. We don’t talk about everything we share,” said Fredericks, who is The Growing Stage’s founder and executive director. “We all have the same dream of a better tomorrow. We all want better lives for ourselves and our children. That doesn’t change regardless of faith or what country you’re from.”
This original work was originally commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s Stage Exchange Program. It’s geared for audiences ages 12 and up. Fredericks hopes it buildings connections between generations.
“In modern times, from the Colonial period on, most of us are not Native Americans. Most of us come from a different place,” Fredericks said. “We hope our work sparks conversations and that the theatrical experience extends beyond the performance: ‘Mom, where did grandma come from?'”
Fredericks’ interest in his own family history gives the play’s first act its storyline. He learned his great-grandmother, Marie Ostraat, was 29 years old when she decided to emigrate to the U.S. She needed her parents’ permission to leave as was required for “spinsters” – unmarried women older than 25. She packed her own food for the rough three-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean on a small schooner.
“Today we think of Norway as a place to go: They’ve got universal health care, they’ve got education. But the land we glorify today was going through major challenges back then,” Fredericks said. “You could easily equate the story to today with someone coming from a war- torn country or to the angst of people trying to cross the southern border.”
Marie, the character based on Fredericks’ great-grandmother, befriends two other women on the ship. The three help each other prepare for the quiz they’ll be given at Ellis Island. Marie distracts the women by reading aloud from a book of Scandinavian folk tales her mother pressed on her before the trip.
To learn more about the lives of recent Syrian immigrants to the U.S., Fredericks attended multiple Syria Supper Club events. For a flat per-person fee, individuals can attend a meal where all food is prepared by a newly-arrived Syrian family who share their stories as well as their culinary talents.
About 90 percent of the proceeds helps the cooks as they establish new lives. The remainder goes to administrative costs for the non-profit United Tastes of America.
Thus the play’s second act centers on a Syrian woman and her two grandchildren, ages 12 and 14, as they wait for a flight to the U.S. The extended family has spent four years living in a tent at a refugee camp. The grandmother calms the children with Syrian folk tales.
“She uses folk tales the same way Maria did, as a way of providing comfort and connection with heritage,” Fredericks said. “Retelling (the stories) reminds them of what life used to be like before the war. “
The four actors in the play take on multiple parts, adopting personas of the main characters as well as those of the folk tale characters. That’s intentional, Fredericks said.
Says the playwright, “That sends the message that this could be any one of us.”
A BETTER PLACE TO BE
The Growing Stage — Children’s Theatre of N.J.
7 Wedgwood Ave., Netcong
Tickets: $ 18, available online at http://www.growingstage.com. Feb. 15-17.
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.