INFORMATION FOR
Layer the Walls, a timely live theater piece focusing on immigration and universal struggles surrounding discrimination, will be staged by Grand Pistachio at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, November 15 in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus.
In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Layer the Walls explores the realities of living in a New York City tenement, and the challenges many new immigrants faced when entering the United States during America’s industrial era. Using puppetry, masks, and live actors, the stories are intentionally aligned with real historical events and waves of immigration that shaped our region and the United States as a whole.
The timeline of the play, titled Layer the Walls, Part 1— Turn of the Century, spans from 1870-1909, following an Irish immigrant who helps build the Brooklyn Bridge; Italian brothers surviving the blizzard of 1888; and Jewish teenagers joining the Garment Workers Strike of 1909. The show is designed for young audiences ages eight to 14.
The performance is followed by an audience talk-back session with Evelyn Hershey of American Labor Museum, members of the cast, and WP history faculty. In the Shea Center lobby, there will be a "Community Wall" for which audience members are invited to write their own stories of migration/immigration on pieces of paper and tape them to the wall.
Layer the Walls, Part 2—Mid-Century, will be staged at William Paterson on March 14, 2027.
All tickets are $20 with general admission seating. For additional information or to purchase tickets, please contact William Paterson University’s Shea Center Box Office at boxoffice@wpunj.edu, call 973.720.2371 or visit www.wp-presents.org.
