Theater: Sanctuary City by Martyna Majok @ NYTW

In Martyna Majok’s  “Sanctuary City,” a young man and woman (referred to as B and G, or Boy and Girl) live an outlaw life in Newark, NJ as children of undocumented immigrants. They grow up together, attend the HS prom together, and when G (Sharlene Cruz) becomes a citizen and goes off to college in Boston, they agree to get married someday so B (Jasai Chase-Owens) won’t be deported.

The play is in keeping with Majok’s other plays about immigrants. And the direction is inspired: rather than the traditional long-ish scenes we see in most plays, here there are snippets of interaction between B & G, separated by bursts of strobe light. A surprise development in Part 2 brings a third character into the mix (Austin Smith). No spoilers if you’ve seen it, please.

My tendency has been to instinctively

disagree with the NYT critics’ opinions on practically everything cultural. But in this instance Jesse Green (aka Mean Jesse Green) got it absolutely right. This short play @ NYTW is disturbing, brilliant, and the best play I’ve seen so far in 2021.  But hey we’ve only seen four, it’s only October, so stay tuned.