More Theater Monday - The Immigrant

We were given free tickets to The Immigrant for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: The Immigrant

Where: George Street Playhouse
             103 College Farm Road
             New Brunswick, NJ

Who:Recommended for Ages 16 and Up

When: Through April 7, 2019

Me - The Immigrant was a show about a man who was an immigrant to Texas from Russia who met a couple and became friendly with them. I liked the show a lot more than I expected to. It wasn't exactly a comedy but it had a lot of humor in it. The story was intriguing, A lot of my ancestors came from Russia too. They came to the East Coast, however. Even though, we had learned about Immigration in school, I learned things that I never knew about it in the show. The characters were interesting. The relationships were complex. The immigrants and the couple were friendly to each other, but they had a lot of differences too. Sometimes, the differences led to conflicts. The acting was good. The immigrant spoke in Yiddish a lot. It was hard to follow because I don't speak the language. The other characters in the play were having the same problem. It was funny the way they reacted. The show was based on a true story. The pictures they showed during the show were the real people. That was cool! Over all, it was very enjoyable.

Mom - Although The Immigrant was originally produced in 1985, this story of a man who recently  arrived in America is very timely. A lot of people can learn an important lesson from this play. Immigrant is not a dirty word and not all immigrants are bad people. While Milton and Ima Perry are at first suspicious of the immigrant, Hasekell Harelick, and wary of his differentness, they take the time to get to know him and realize that although he is different than them in some ways in other ways he is very much like them. He is just a person trying to get through life and do the best he can to get by just like them. Although a lot of the play is spoken in Yiddish, it is clear what is going on at all times. The foreign language aspect of the story also works because it puts the audience in the shoes of the characters in the play that the immigrant encounters who do not understand the language either and it shows why this might set him apart from them.  However, the fact that they are able to overcome this language barrier shows that it can be done. Although it seems like the show might be a heavy drama because of the current strong opinions on all sides of the immigration issue, it is not. While there is plenty of drama within the show, there is also plenty of humor, love and friendship. It is a beautiful story performed by an outstanding cast led by Benjamin Pelteson in the lead role of Haskell Harelick. It is definitely a show worth seeing and learning from.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

Photo credits: All The Immigrant production photos by T. Charles Erickson