Life for Immigrants at Center of 'America Amerique' at Pitt-Bradford

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will present the national tour of “America Amerique,” a documentary play about American immigrants and the United States, for one performance only at 7 p.m. Feb. 15.

Jena Company of New York will perform the show in the Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall. Cost is $15 for the public and free for all students.

Seven actors will combine period music and contemporary anecdotes along with eyewitness accounts of striking events and people. The play is made up of 20 scenes based on newspaper accounts, letters, journals and court documents.

“Immigration has always been a hot-button issue,” said Randy Mayes, director of arts programming at Pitt-Bradford. “Political parties like the American Party and the Know Nothing Party exploited immigration issues, and this play shows some of that as well.

“Continuing on to the present day and dealing with some of our current immigration issues definitely makes this play unique, although it certainly sounds like many of the issues we worry about today haven’t really changed as much as we think they have.”

Mayes calls the play a “real eye-opener” since it will “bring smiles to people’s faces but will also make them think.”

“There are nostalgic parts, but there is also a realistic component,” Mayes said. “Many of our ancestors did not have an easy time immigrating here, and the play shows the sacrifices they made so we can reap the benefits today.”

The play tackles difficult material, including the following episodes in American history:

• One million Irish men and women brutalized by famine left their homes in the first major migration of any ethnic group to America in 1845-46.

• Russian Jews were virtually imprisoned in the overcrowded and impoverished region known as the Pale. The targets of persecution and annihilating attacks by the Czar’s troops, half the population fled Russia, with many coming to America in 1882.

• The state of Massachusetts electrocuted two of the most famous immigrants in American history, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, in 1927. These Italian workmen – who were also committed anarchists – had been convicted for the murder of two payroll guards. The conduct of the trial – and the facts of the case – remain controversial and in deep doubt.

“America Amerique” premiered at California University of Pennsylvania with a well-received performance, and Mayes said he hopes for the same at Pitt-Bradford.

Alex Levy, a 10-time winner of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Awards for Excellence in Theatre, is the director, and historian Thomas Jessen Adams, an instructor at Tulane University in New Orleans, conducted research for the historical framework.

Additional information is available by contacting the Bromeley Family Theater box office at (814) 362-5113.

For disability-related needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at 814-362-7609 or arj4@pitt.edu.

You can hear more about “America Amerique” on Thursday's LiveLine at 12:30 p.m. on 1490 WESB and online at WESB.com.