Preview: Sanctuary City at 4th Wall Theatre Company

In Sanctuary City, the two main characters “B” and “G” are each undocumented teenage immigrants living in a small town near Newark, New Jersey. They are united by that status and their “friendship of necessity,” according to Raven Justine Troup who plays G.

A dividing event is when G (girl) becomes naturalized through her mother. But B (boy) reaches the age of 18 without that happening. That particular avenue is now forever closed to him. And in the wake of September 11, his mother decides to return to her country of origin. (The countries of origin are never specified.)

“G ends up hopping over the finish line at the last minute. And B had to go back to the starting line because he’s turned 18 and now he’s got to walk the whole path to try and get his documentation handled,” says Troup (Seascape at the Alley.)

They are the human capital embroiled in politics through no fault or decision of their own. The Obie Award-winning play, directed by 4th Wall Theatre company Artistic Director Philip Lehl and written by Martyna Majok, who won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Cost of Living, covers the years from 2001-2006.

The 90-minute, one-act play begins with both of the main characters in high school, says Luis Quintero who plays B. “They talk to each other a lot because they can confide in each other. G’s character suffers a lot of domestic abuse at home. and a big point of the play is their unwillingness to tell somebody about this for fear of the ramifications that if somebody finds out and starts to ask more questions then that could lead to deportation or worse.

“They go to school; they worked part time as well. But of course all of that which we would take for granted has a heightened level of caution and wariness and they kind of lean on each other to navigate those specifics,” he says. “His mom decides to go back because this happens right after September 11. It’s a little ambiguous as to why she goes back. It’s implied that some sort of threat or a story happened that she felt she was in danger because she was not a natural citizen. And she’s been taken advantage of at work with the boss taking her tips out of the jar at work because he can and she wouldn’t be able to report it to anybody.”

Describing her character, Troup says: “She is a rough and tumble inner city kid. Really, really smart. Book smart as well as street smart, intuitive, She is no nonsense; not very sentimental. But she cares really really deeply.”

As for B, Quintero says: “My character has lived his whole life in the States He speaks English. He doesn’t speak a whole lot of his former language.”

Christian Tannous (most recently seen in The Sound Inside at 4th Wall) plays the character Henry who enters later in the play. The design team and crew is comprised of Frances Limoncelli (Assistant Director), Jodi Bobrovsky (Scenic Designer), Daniel Jones (Lighting Designer), Robert Leslie Meek (Sound Designer), Macy Lyne (Costume Designer), and Kalin Menzel (Production Stage Manager).

There’s tension throughout the play between the two main characters but it’s questionable if it’s romantic, Quintero says.

“When she becomes naturalized they hatch a lot together to perhaps marry into citizenship with each other. That’s the first part of the play. Doing a bunch of research, practicing a bunch of questions. Imagining answers to questions that they haven’t really experienced yet.”

The playwright encourages actors to use their own country of origin if it’s outside the United States, Quintero said. The only thing that ‘s provided is that the former country is less liberal than the United States, Quintero says.

“In my case that’s Venezuela. I’ve always wanted to go back to Venezuela but right now it would be very dangerous to go back to Venezuela. if my mom were to go back she would be a guiding force but if I didn’t know Spanish at all and all my friends were here my imagination says I want to go to school at NYU, all that is in jeopardy or becomes more complicated when my mom leaves.”

“It’s written deliberately to encapsulate whatever background the actors have.”

Troup says she was attracted to the part after reading the script. “I loved the language of it. I loved the way it unfolds itself. I also loved how creative the playwright got with the sequencing of it. it’s like a wash of memories. I thought it was just an absolutely fascinating format and I also relate to G on certain different things like her mother has an abusive husband — let’s say that’s something I’ve lived through in my childhood, abusive circumstances in the home so I read that and I was like ‘I get this girl.'”

The setting of the play itself probably defies assumptions made by Houston audiences, Quintero says.

“The playwright is from New Jersey but the playwright is Polish. So this idea of immigration is a lot larger than I think people would be used to in Houston. Living in Houston, most people when they think of immigration think of Mexico,” Quintero says. “But that question of whatever other country — it could be Russia, whatever place we deem as a threat and thereby then we mistakenly endow the people of that country with the same threat. I guess it was set in New Jersey because that’s where [the playwright] is from.

Asked who should see this play, Troup says: “Probably anyone who has ever who’s wanted any more clarity on immigration issues. It’s not a dry recounting of laws. It’s a very involved, emotional human story but you also get a lot of information that you may not have known. It takes place directly after 911 when which is when immigration locked down. It’s an interesting perspective on the whole situation.”

Performances are scheduled for March 24 through April 15 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays .and 3 p.m. Sundays [Pay What You can on Monday, April 10 and preview night March 23] at Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring Street, Studio 101. For more information, call 832-767-4991 or visit 4thwalltheatreco.com. $17-$53.