Themes

[concepts to think about as the performance unfolds]

Immigration Identity

Father/ Daughter Relationships

Baggage

Longing for Home

We meet Mohammed in 1982. We meet Laylain2012.Whatimages,events,and contexts surrounded these two in their

JANUARY 26

Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as President of the United States.

FEBRUARY 1

First episode of Late Night with David Letterman, starring Bill Murray.

MARCH 29

54th Academy Awards, Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark wins 5 Academy Awards.

APRIL 21

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands becomes the first Dutch monarch to address US Congress.

MAY 30

Cal Ripken Jr.’s first game of his record-breaking 2,632 games in a row in Major League Baseball.

JUNE 30

The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution falls short of passing.

JULY 9

Pan Am Flight 759 fatally crashes in Kenner, Louisiana.

AUGUST 20

SEPTEMBER 15

Lebanese Civil War begins, with U.S. arriving August 25. First edition of USA Today hits newsstands.

OCTOBER 1

Walt Disney World opens EPCOT center to the public.

NOVEMBER 30

Michael Jackson releases the biggest-selling album of all time, Thriller .

DECEMBER 23

The EPA evacuates Times Beach, Missouri, due to dioxin contamination.

JANUARY 24

Barack Obama is inaugurated as President.

FEBRUARY 26

84th Academy Awards, Martin Scorsese's Hugo wins big; Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, is killed by George Zimmerman in Florida.

MARCH 1

Maryland becomes the 8th state to legalize gay marriage in the United States.

APRIL 2

Kentucky beats Kansas in the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball.

MAY 20

NATO leaders discuss action plans about the Middle East, the Afghanistan War, nuclear weapons, and Russia at the Chicago Summit.

JUNE 15

President Obama announces cessation of deportation for some illegal immigrants.

JULY 31

2012 Summer Olympics in London: Michael Phelps wins his record 19th medal, with gold in the 4 × 200 meters freestyle relay.

AUGUST 6

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Curiosity Rover lands on Mars. Agreement for the completion of the US National September 11 Memorial & Museum on the World Trade Center site in New York City is reached.

SEPTEMBER 10

OCTOBER 19, 29, 30

19 At the Dallas State Fair, Big Tex burns down because of a not a snake but a fire in his right boot. 29 Hurricane Sandy hits 30 – Disney acquires Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.

NOVEMBER 6

Barack Obama is re-elected President.

DECEMBER 14

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

In our story, this magical place is none other than New York’s Coney Island, a location that holds the promise of a fun, fulfilling day for the father and daughter pair… someday. Located on the southernmost tip of the Manhattan island, this beachside sector became known as “The People’s Playground ”1 as it hosted entertainment from amusement rides to boardwalk vendors to carnival classics in food. Unlike many entertainment predecessors, Coney Island allowed people across socioeconomic backgrounds to enjoy leisure together. When in the early 19th century working class individuals began to receive more off time for themselves, affordable transportation and cheap forms of food and entertainment grew Coney Island into the most popular place to spend weekends. In all, this isle of amusement offered a joyful escape from the hard weekdays alongside the affirmation that all people are entitled to joy.

This sensation for hot dogs, cotton candy, and Cyclones held especially true for the working classes of New York from the late 1800s and into the 1960s, decaying in the 1970s, and reviving in the 1990s. Through time, its image as a metaphorical island of good times and joy outweighs even its identity as a geographical island.

2 Afridi, Humera. “The Coney Island of Their Mind.” TheNewYorkTimes, June 19 2005. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/nyregion/thecity/the-coney-island-of-their-mind.html

3 Shaw, Randy. “Coney Island Exposed America’s Spirit.” Beyond Chron, the Voice of the Rest, February 27, 2015. https://beyondchron.org/coney-island-americas-democratic-spirit-unleashed/