Stephanie Satie, actor and writer of "Coming to America."
They’re coming.
Stephanie Satie comes in the form of many in her solo production of “Coming to America: Transformations.”
The play is a cross section of nine individual women of various ages, origins and creeds, all woven into a narrative that shows us a cross section of human nature as we may not have seen before. Coming to America is an exhilarating, unsettling and sometimes dangerous endeavour for those who make the journey, and Satie’s performance (or performances, if you prefer) does not shy away from the facts while presenting it in palatable mouthfuls.
It is not a play in the traditional sense that it does not have an arch, but instead displays their stories so that they can stand alone. Here you will see a single actress give new life to women from El Salvador, Armenia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Iran, Russia and Serbia, who are coming to America, or “have arrived to greater or lesser success.” According to Satie, the intent is “not to force an impression. I didn’t want to make anyone look good or bad […] I really wanted to tell the story how it is.” The goal is to introduce these women in the most honest manner possible.
This is not her first time covering this kind of subject matter. The idea came from teaching English as a Second Language to immigrants, where Satie was exposed to a variety of stories from extraordinary people who endured a plethora of hardships leading up to their eventual arrival in America. She would come in and perform segments from what she had heard, and everyone insisted that she write them down. These stories later developed into the earlier “Refugees,” a play in which the actor assumed the personas of representative and composite characters in a classroom.
Some of the stories were left over, however, and with such a wellspring of information at her disposal, it was only a matter of time before the characters came to life.
“A couple of [these stories] are from the horse’s mouth. The Iranian woman who I play, […] she’s a friend of mine.” Some, however, required more of a creative process. “There were some stories that I only heard a kernel of, and so I had to go back and write around them. And of course, if you’re doing a two hour interview, things are going to have to be changed around.”
Following the play, she will be fielding questions from the audience.
Satie is excited to be performing on campus. “When you get bodies in that room, it’s always really amazing.”
You can catch “Coming to America: Transformations” on March 2nd at the Black Box Theater.
-by Ben Fassett
