At the Sixth National Conference we were proud to bring a special performance of Undesirable Elements to conference attendees. The special performance took place on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 8:00 PM.
In Undesirable Elements, six individuals talk about what it means to be an outsider. The stories include a young Hmong woman from Laos, a Russian Jewish woman who was confined to a Camp in the Ukraine during World War II and who arrived in Minnesota in 1992, a young Puerto Rico man, an Ojibwa woman, a Filipino woman who came to the United States to escape political repression, and an African American soldier who experienced racism as he offered his service to this country during World War II.
This play is deceptively simple –these individuals tell the true stories of their births, their names, the country where they grew up, the experiences they have had as being treated as an “outsider “in their home country , and the experiences they have had being treated as an “outsider” here in Minnesota. One of the writers of the Twin Cities newspapers wrote about Undesirable Elements:
“The audience witnessed the creation of a community of people brought together by courageous bewildering and occasionally odd, transcultural experiences...the cumulative power of these shared stories are nothing short of astonishing.”
Undesirable Elements is an Illusion Theather production. Illusion Theater’s mission is to create theater that illuminates the myths and realities of our times and to catalyze personal and social change. Illusion Theater is nationally renowned for its development of new plays, its pioneering work in using theater to address complex issues and ideas, and its education program to address issues important to children and families.
Illusion Theater was founded by Executive Producing Director Michael Robins in 1974. In 1977, founding company member Bonnie Morris joined Robins as Co-Producing Director. Since its inception, Illusion has commissioned or developed over 350 original mainstage plays that have been seen by more than one million people. Plays developed at Illusion have been staged in London and by more than thirty theaters across the United States, including major regional theaters such as the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, the Goodman Theater in Chicago, and the Manhattan Theater Club. Two plays have been made into motion pictures. Nine have been published. One was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Illusion has toured to every corner of the state and returns regularly to many communities. Over 1.5 million children and adults in all 50 states, Canada and the Virgin Islands have seen Illusion Theater performances or experienced workshops of Illusion's education repertory. Last year, alone, we served over 61,000 individuals, including 45,700 youth. The vast majority of those were from the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota.
Illusion Theater's Website