A cool white spotlight beams on an empty stage. Actors, representing weary travelers, emerge from the curtain, ready to tell Bloomington their stories from all corners of the world in the form of a play.
Off Night Productions’ “Immigrants, Refugees, & Asylum Seekers” recounted stories of migrants who are part of the Bloomington community. The show ran from Sunday through Tuesday at Constellation Playhouse. All stories were performed by actors except for that of Norma Landgraff, who retold her own story of faith, love and growth moving from Colombia to Bloomington to become a missionary.
“I started with the idea of telling immigrant stories,” Assistant Director and actress Ana Cordero said. “The situation precisely requires that people know different immigration histories exist, they are not all the same and everyone has a different motivation.”
Cordero and Director Aubrey Seader worked with community partners Exodus Refugee Immigration, IU’s Center for Refugee Studies, El Centro Comunal Latino and the Bloomington Refugee Support Network. Together, they identified community members who were comfortable and willing to share their stories through a series of interviews.
“We were really fortunate to have community partners to work with us,” Seader said. “I don't think we could have done this responsibly without having those community partners be the advocates for each of these individuals.”
The production had four shows, three in English and one in Spanish. Four stories were told in the Spanish version and five in the English version with Cordero and Landgraff performing in both.
“I obviously wanted this to be something that people could connect to and that was emboldening and something that made them feel proud of themselves,” Seader said. “I think the stories are hard, so I definitely hope that it was more affirming than it was difficult.”
The stories followed Landgraff pursuing a call from God, a Colombian baker fleeing gang violence, a Venezuelan facing political persecution, and a young woman escaping sexual abuse and harassment, all coming to live in Bloomington.
“We chose these four because they show distinct aspects of migration,” Cordero said. “Norma, because she’s a super well known member of the community. She’d already told me (her story) a long time ago and it seemed very lovely, very funny and very inspirational.”
The directors chose to use actors to protect the privacy of the original storytellers.
“It's just the time in which publicly identifying as a refugee is a risk for people,” Seader said. “Even though they do have legal status here, we never wanted anyone to feel like they were they were being put in a spotlight.”
The production was set in an airport with each storyteller carrying suitcases, purses and even a stuffed animal of the Disney character Stitch. Cordero chose the setting because of its sojourning symbolism.
“Here’s where we find everyone without knowing why we’re there nor what our histories are before sitting here in this place, in this moment of the trip,” Cordero said.
Off Night Productions is a women-led theatre nonprofit that focuses on providing sustainable theater for all in the off nights of the performing world with shows Sunday to Tuesday. Off Night’s first fully Spanish performance was free for viewers. Tickets were all claimed, with community members of all ages piling into narrow seats.
Since 2022, Exodus Refugee has welcomed 500 refugees to the city. In 2023, Bloomington was home to almost 12,000 immigrants.
“Immigrants are in a really important part of life in Bloomington,” Seader said. “They're a big percentage of our friends and neighbors.”
Some audience members said the production connected with them, as the stories allowed them to empathize with migrants.
“I understood how hard that journey was, and even if you do come to the U.S, even if your eyes were on the prize, there's still a lot of tragedy that goes along with that,” audience member Natalya Pomeroy said.
The storytelling format of the show especially connected with audience member and IU professor Lucía Stavig.
“I think stories are the most powerful things we have as humans,” Stavig said. “They really help us kind of cut through a lot of false narratives or politics and just get down to the basics of we're all human. We are all here to try to take care of our families. We all are just trying to make a better life for ourselves.”
