St. Francis Students Explore Idea of Hate Through Drama
Perform The Indian Wants The Bronx Plus Original Work
A collection of St. Francis College students presented a deeply moving and personal production with a focus on hate in our society in their two performances of Israel Horovitz’s The Indian Wants the Bronx and their original production How We Got That Way, in the College’s Maroney Forum for Arts, Culture and Education on December 9.
“Recent events involving hate crimes have made the events of the play seem raw and fresh,” said Dr. Kathryn Grant who directed the performance. “We were compelled not only to mount the play but to also create a response piece in which the notion of the “hate crime” is brought up for review and reflection.”
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After The Indian Wants the Bronx, a play about an Indian man at the mercy of two New York City street kids, the students wrote, produced and performed a series of performance pieces, many dealing with personal histories. I’m an American, by Esther Park focused on a girl born in the U.S. but constantly harassed because of her Korean ethnicity. In Christine Nieves, Welcome to the Land of Opportunity, she focused on grandparents who were the object of scorn after they moved to New York from Puerto Rico while Carl Fleurimont’s performance of Mike Adamo’s Unwanted Construction spoke to the anonymous and dangerous lives of immigrant workers.
“We hope our work will cause people to reflect on the ways we invite people into our circle and the various cruelties we inflict to keep others out,” added Professor Grant.
Other pieces were written and performed by Evan Brenner and Sheamara Kimble (The 3rd Kind), My Hijab written by Devin La Pierre, Mr. Sayat written by Jake King and a Bloggers Chorus by the entire company. Communication Arts Professor Timothy Dugan was the Production Coordinator.
The performance is a product of Professor Grant’s Theater Production Workshop class. The advanced Performance Studies course in the Communications Department teaches students many aspects of theater from producing and directing to performing scenes and entire plays.
St. Francis College, founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, is located in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Since its founding, the College has pursued its Franciscan mission to provide an affordable, high-quality education to students from New York City’s five boroughs and beyond.
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St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201
www.sfc.edu