By: Kitty O’Neal | February 28, 2020 | 9:11 AM
Listen to Kitty’s interview with Academy Award winner Tim Robbins.
The national tour of The New Colossus comes to the Harris Center Tuesday, March 3 and on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:30 pm (same time both days). Tickets are $28-$52; Premium: $62. Students with ID $12. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 12 noon to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday (please note new hours), and two hours before showtime. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. The Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.
THE ACTORS’ GANG BRING THE NEW COLOSSUS TO FOLSOM; DIRECTOR TIM ROBBINS WILL BE IN THE AUDIENCE AND WILL LEAD POST-PERFORMANCE DISCUSSION
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free”—it’s a personal story in The New Colossus, as cast members share the stories of their families coming to America
In this intensely physical production, cast members from The Actors’ Gang tell their ancestors’ stories in twelve different eras, all woven into a single narrative about escaping an oppressive homeland and being drawn to the beacon above Ellis Island. The play was work-shopped during the Obama years in a reaction to the Syrian refugee crises; the director of the show, Academy Award-winner Tim Robbins told the Los Angeles Times, “I looked around at our company, and we have people from all over the world, so I asked everyone to really think about their own families and how they found their way here.” Performed in twelve languages, each used sparsely, and interspersed with live music, poetry, and kinetic movement, the play concludes with a question — who are we as a country? “The New Colossus holds a theatrical mirror to the nation” (Los Angeles Times).
Following each Folsom performance, an in-depth discussion will be facilitated by the director. Tim Robbins will lead the cast and audience in a conversation centering on the immigrant and refugee experience, during which audience members will be encouraged to share their own personal stories, as well as their immediate reactions to the work. The Harris Center is excited to welcome Mr. Robbins to Stage One; his availability is subject to change.
