New production of A Shayna Maidel @PMTC asks “who gets to feel safe” from refugee perspective

A Shayna Maidel, opening on October 11 at the Peace Mountain Theater Company (PMTC), represents an opportunity for Salon friends to look at the question at the heart of our series, “who gets to feel safe,” from the perspective of the newest and most vulnerable members of U.S. Feeling safe has special resonance for the characters in this play, and indeed, for many refugees and immigrants, especially unaccompanied young people. Creating trust and understanding among law enforcement and immigrants to the U.S. represents an important part of allowing all persons in our society to feel safe.

This remains a challenge. The Carnegie Corporation of New York has sponsored work by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) to pilot best practices for local law enforcement. As Carnegie notes on its website: “when refugees arrive from war torn countries they are often unfamiliar with U.S. laws, individual rights, and even property ownership, putting them at risk of unfortunate encounters with law enforcement. This is changing thanks to the work of local police departments that are proactively developing innovative ways of interacting with refugee communities and building trust.” In addition, the Center for American Progress has flagged “the negative consequences of entangling local policing and immigration enforcement.”

As PMTC Dramaturg Nancy Eynon Lark writes, in A Shayna Maidel two sisters from two dramatically different worlds have life experiences neither can fully comprehend. When, against all odds, their hopes for being reunited are finally realized, they must find a way to create the family they both feared was lost. A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow reflects the life-changing devastation of a family trying to leave their home in Poland in a desperate attempt to survive. Fleeing the brutality of pervasive anti-Semitism, a father is faced with impossible choices. When one of his daughters becomes ill, he must decide whether to stay and risk losing all, or escape, taking his younger daughter to safety in a new world. His decision to leave his wife and older daughter behind reverberates with loss, anger, guilt, and hope. A father’s responsibility to protect his family separated two young sisters; this same sense of responsibility drives him to make them whole again. Reunited after more than 16 years, the sisters bear the weight of their father’s choice and must find a way to reconcile their divergent pasts. Ms. Lark writes that, when in 2016, PMTC selected A Shayna Maidel for Peace Mountain Theatre Company's (PMTC) fall 2018 season, we could not have imagined the swift reversal of US immigration policies and the disastrous impact on migrant families we see today. Scenes unfolding nightly on our television screens echo the images of European Jewish children separated 80 years ago from their mothers and fathers — many of them permanently lost. Sadly, these images have made A Shayna Maidel more timely and relevant now than we could have possibly foreseen.” Just as this important and moving work reflects the devastation of the Holocaust, it serves well as both a mirror and a cautionary tale for our own times.

Salon friends will also be interested in Peace Mountain Theatre Company's (PMTC)’s two post-show panel discussions. A Shayna Maidel focuses on issues of separation and reunion experienced by so many that immigrate to the United States and other countries. To address these issues as they occur in the real world, panel discussions, including experts and immigrants to the U.S., will be held following the October 14 and October 21 matinees: Sunday, October 14: The Jewish-American Dream Post-World War II Sunday, October 21: The Current American Immigrant Experience