Immigrants and refugees share their stories in world premiere

They came from Britain, China, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzogovina,  ultimately ending up in the greater Lansing area.

But the five performers of “The Same Moon: Lansing,” a world premiere production opening this weekend at Peppermint Creek Theatre, are here to dispel your preconceived ideas about immigrants or refugees.

As the next chapter of The Telling Project, the project is shifting its focus from military veterans and families to another silenced population— immigrants and refugees. Telling Project founder Jonathan Wei's “The Same Moon: Lansing” is a non-fiction theatrical production powered by true and often harrowing stories told by the people who lived them.

“Displacement is the story of this country,” Wei said. “Whether you are native and you were displaced by people coming here from Europe or whether you were displaced from Europe through economic, religious or other kinds of reasons.”

This project morphed from a 2016 Telling Project production at Yale University. That cast was composed of military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and refugees from those countries who were displaced to a political refugee settlement in New Haven, Connecticut.

“The vast majority of Iraq and Afghanistan refugees coming to the country are given either refugee or asylum status because they were in some way assisting the occupation effort,” Wei said.

By contrast, the cast in “The Same Moon” have immigrated to the United States for a variety of reasons.

For Celia Li, who came to the United States from China in 2012 to attend Michigan State University, sharing her story onstage is nerve wracking. “I feel we’re all being completely naked here with our backstory…I have a lot of self-doubt whether my story can represent a larger community — for example, Chinese students here. Will that be too personal?” Li said. “On the other hand, I feel it’s really worth it to share the story. You’re showing other people’s truths so you only see through your own lenses or own perspectives. I hope our stories can help people see our lives here without the lenses.”

The process of turning the performers’ stories into monologues is long and challenging. Wei says he interviewed each person for one to three hours. Of those hours, “we end up putting 5 to 10% of the interview in the script so we have to make some pretty big decisions,” Wei said.

Lana Hadzajlic King will share her story of escaping the violence and genocide in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina. She lived as a refugee in Sweden from 1993 to 1997 before immigrating to the United States. When King first read the script, a condensed version of her over two-hour interview, it solidified her experience as reality. “It was like ‘holy shit, that really happened,’” says King. “Like how do you get from point A to point B? It was a realization of how much a person can take on.”

It’s important to note that most of  the performers have no theatrical experience. Wei says that lack of acting experience  adds to the sense of authenticity.

“There’s something in their performance that registers as completely genuine," Wei said. "It’s the truth of that person in that moment. It disarms us.”

As for premiering this revamped project at Peppermint Creek Theatre, Wei says Peppermint Creek “gets it.”

“The Telling Production we did with them with the military folks was just top-notch in every way. It was done with such commitment and such integrity on their part. We’ve worked all over the country, there are so many places we could have gone that I could have approached with this,” Wei said.

“It’s also Lansing. People showed up for that production and they really engaged with it. We wanted to put it on its feet with the right place and the right kind of energy. And Lansing and Peppermint Creek were kind of perfect for it.”

In a time where even the most innocuous things are politicized, a play sharing the intimate perspectives of five former immigrants and refugees sounds like it could be very political.

“This is not a ‘Fuck Trump’ play. It’s a Lansing specific show,” said Blake Bowen, director of the Lansing production. “It’s a celebration of this community.”

Cast member Dilli Chapagai believes this production has the power to change minds. Chapagi came to America after being evicted from Bhutan with his family and 80,000 others to a refugee camp when he was only four years-old.

“I’m thinking the audience of this play will be friendly people,” Chapagai said. “But if some unfriendly people came to this play, then I think they would be friendly after seeing this play.”

"Same Moon: Lansing"

Thursday, Aprill 11 – Sunday, April 14

Thursday, April 18 – Sunday April 21

Alternating showtimes at 8 p.m. and 2 p.m.

$15
Students/Seniors $10

Miller Performing Arts Center

6025 Curry Ln., Lansing 48911

peppermintcreek.org

517-927-3016