'Sanctuary City' Explores Sacrifice and Circumstance of Undocumented People

by Jenn Ngeth

What are you willing to risk for friendship? Do you truly know the weight of what it could cost?

Sanctuary City, a play written by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok and directed by Desdemona Chiang, takes us back to 2001 in Newark, New Jersey. As the story unfolds, two undocumented teenagers make a promise to marry each other when one of them gains citizenship. But as time passes, their friendship veers into a clash with reality. This month, Sanctuary City will be onstage for theater lovers to enjoy at Seattle Rep in the Leo K. Theater through March 31. Grab your tickets and be prepared for a tumultuous ride of emotions.

The play begins when B (Junior Nyong'o) and G (Emilie Maureen Hanson) suddenly appear on a propless stage, just like flickering on a TV screen. G knocks on B's bedroom window from the outside fire escape, asking for refuge from the cold outside and the violence from within her own home. Through this window, they share their secrets of being undocumented: enduring acts of mistreatment in fear of being reported, feelings of impending doom, being separated from their mothers, dreams put on pause because many do not see these children as fully human — a list of everyday fears that never end for millions of undocumented immigrants in America.

Despite these stressors, B and G offer up comedic witty remarks and rays of hope, spilling their dreams of freedom and what they envision for their futures. The teens dance (to a 2000s soundtrack that millennials will instantly bop to), indulge in their favorite dishes, and are each other's safe place.

But nothing can stay the same for long. As the plot progresses, B and G's friendship is put to the test when their worst fears come true. The incredible talents of Nyong'o and Hanson transport the audience from past to present in sync with the actors' shifting emotions and deft body language. The stage lights change color from cool to warm to signal the change in time and tone. It's almost like we're swirling in the spiral of the teens' dilemma, unsure if it's the present or the future we should be focusing on.

In the second half of the play, the stage transforms into B's living room, still in the same apartment he lived in as a teenager. The yellow walls, beaded curtains, and string lights lining the room create a cozy atmosphere —— finally a peek outside the bedroom that once sheltered the teens.

Now an adult, B works under-the-table jobs to sustain himself. G, having moved to Boston, comes back to visit and to address their promise. This emotional encounter reveals how time and circumstances can alter a relationship. Their friendship no longer exists only in the bedroom, apart from the common area, but has been brought to light and transformed into something very different. It's as though by revealing the apartment, we're being shown their reality, which is no longer able to be an imaginary world for these characters.

Sanctuary City will have you fighting back tears as you watch the characters navigate living in a country that forces them to live in secrets and in the shadows of society. In the end, who are those tears for? Watch the play and buy tickets for upcoming shows at the Seattle Rep website, but don't blame me for any lingering sadness you walk away with.

Featured Image: Emilie Maureen Hanson (right) and Junior Nyong'o, playing G and B, respectively, in "Sanctuary City" (2024) at Seattle Rep. (Photo by Bronwen Houck, courtesy of Seattle Rep.)