“Rowing to America: The Immigrant Project” will be staged “in the round” on March 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 at 8 p.m., and March 8, 14 and 15 at 2 p.m. in the Ronald E. Barnes Theatre at CSUSB.

Welcome to America.
 
The journey to another place is filled with the anticipation of new opportunities, sorrow at leaving and sometimes fear of what’s to come. Written by a culturally diverse group of writers, with equally diverse characters, some of the short plays offer unsettling views of the tragedy and pain that drove people to leave their homelands, while others provide a glimpse into the delight and promise that the American Dream offers. “Rowing To America” is especially timely in an era where, across the globe, people are struggling to find a place to belong.
 
“Rowing To America: The Immigrant Project” is a collection of nine one-act plays by award-winning playwrights in a variety of styles and representing a range of perspectives from the past and present. Directed by Kathryn Ervin, the show opens March 6.
 
The plays:
 
“Dead Bolivians On A Raft” by Guillermo Reyes turns the tables on the stereotypical presentations of Latinos when a young playwright confronts his family with the contemporary play he’s writing.
 
“The Apron” by Meg Griffith features two sisters in Ireland in 1870 on the eve of a journey that will carry one away from the shores of her homeland to seek her fortune.
 
“Rowing To America” by Kitty Chen is a poetic musing on immigrants escaping danger.
 
“Slave Coffle With Observer” by J. Rufus Caleb explores memory as it creates history at the intersections of the past and present.
 
“Homeland” by Sachi Oyamo uncovers the challenges faced by a Japanese woman in learning the language of a new land.
 
“Famous Ali” by Robert Clyman illuminates the ingenuity and heart it takes to get into America.
 
“A Mule In JFK” by Keith Glover provides a philosophical view of the risks and rewards in coming to America.
 
“Let Us Go Then” by Akhil Sharma considers the sorrows and the solace of loss far from home.
 
“Oh Wild West Wind” by Karen Sunde offers a glimpse into the struggle of the Cherokee people to survive.
 
“Rowing to America: The Immigrant Project” will be staged “in the round” on March 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 at 8 p.m., and March 8, 14 and 15 at 2 p.m.
 
Tickets can be purchased from the CSUSB Theatre Arts Box Office, or online at theatre.csusb.edu. Tickets are $6 for students and children under 17; $12 for faculty, staff, senior citizens and military; $15 for adults. Performances take place in the Ronald E. Barnes Theatre on the CSUSB campus. Parking at CSUSB is $6 Monday-Friday and $3 on the weekend.

For additional information, please contact the Theatre Box Office at (909) 537-5884 or theatrearts@csusb.edu.

Written by a culturally diverse group of writers, with equally diverse characters, some of the short plays in “Rowing to America” offer unsettling views of the tragedy and pain that drove people to leave their homelands.

“Rowing to America: The Immigrant Project” is a collection of nine one-act plays by award-winning playwrights in a variety of styles and representing a range of perspectives from the past and present.