'An American Farmer' at SOPAC

Am just home from opening night. Run, do not walk, to see this play. Funny and sad and current and horrifying. Really worthwhile. So thought-provoking in so many ways. Welcome to your new home at SOPAC, American Theater Group!

We had wanted to see it, but it's only there for a week and a half. Couldn't fit into out schedule. Why such a short run?

We’be been looking forward to seeing it and are going this afternoon. 

Let us know how the discussion following the performance went.

joan_crystal said:

Let us know how the discussion following the performance went.

I'm guessing that about 3/4 of the audience stayed for the discussion, which I thought was very good. The discussion was very informative and relevant. The panel was outstanding: Michael Noriega, moderator, who is an immigration lawyer;  Sharyn Rothstein, the playwright; Farrin Anello, ACLU -NJ, senior staff attorney who conducts litigation and advocacy to advance the civil rights of immigrants and Muslim Americans; Jenna Pannepacker, Co-Founder  and Executive Director of Sanar Wellnes Institute, which provides trauma-informed services for survivors of gender-based violence and individuals vulnerable to exploitation; Sara Moore, Dreamer and Youth Activist. I  learned a lot, and I'm sure that most members of the audience did as well. 

Sharyn Rothstein wrote the play 10 years ago. 

We didn't realize until we read the playbill that she  also wrote "By The Water," which we saw at  Kean about four years ago, for which she received the 2015 American Theater Critic's Association award for a play by an emerging woman playwright. We loved it. 

As I left the theater last night, I was so happy to have gotten to see such a good play where I did. Can't imagine it would be so well-received or appreciated in many places -- though I suppose those places would never have considered staging it in the first place. (Insert sad sigh here...)