Polish born playwright Martyna Majok wowed me a few seasons ago with Ironbound, the story of an immigrant woman waiting for the bus outside a run down New Jersey factory where she works. Spanning twenty years and three relationships, this was a study in one woman’s attempt to find security – a decent living, a decent man – in a harsh world that does not value her existence. An outstanding play, Ironbound is currently running in Los Angeles with Marin Ireland, who was brilliantly riveting in the role.
With her new play queens, Ms. Majok continues to spotlight the immigrant experience, this time on a more ambitious scale. The action takes place in a basement apartment in Queens, NY in June 2017. Like Ironbound, however, this one also spans a great deal of time and through various parts of the world between 2001 and 2017. The play opens with a group of unrelated immigrant women living together, struggling to make ends meet. One of them is leaving to return to Honduras.
Also like Ironbound, the play moves back and forth in time, and storylines are filled in. The women hail from different countries including Poland, Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan. All drawn to the melting pot and promise of America. Or to escape. Living difficult challenging lives with regrets, hopes and dreams. A young woman arrives in search of her mother whom she has not seen for fifteen years. Ana Reeder, in a remarkably complex performance, plays Renia. She left Poland many years ago and is taking in refugees for rent in her basement.
Over the course of nearly three hours, this epic unfolds. Depending on your individual perspective, queens will provoke multiple feelings. Empathy, which is sorely lacking in America at the moment. Sadness, such as a fellow theatergoer who was bawling at the end, the raw emotions perhaps too real for her. Disgust, for the way human beings treat each other. Add in marvel too, as you grasp the sheer determination and inner strength of these women as they navigate their complicated lives.
Danya Taymor directed this piece which is being presented at the small Claire Tow Theater in a superlative staging. Each actress is astonishingly real, some inhabit more than one character. Laura Jellinek’s set design is simply amazing. When you walk in the theater, you notice birds painted on the back wall, flying away, in various levels of focus. A large ceiling hangs in mid-air. Women may have the glass ceiling to contend with but immigrant women have the basement ceiling. This specific production of queens is not to be missed.