{"id":357313,"date":"2024-07-21T15:05:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T19:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=357313"},"modified":"2024-07-21T15:05:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T19:05:32","slug":"2024-capital-fringe-review-the-perfect-immigrant-by-sam-yakura-5-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/07\/21\/2024-capital-fringe-review-the-perfect-immigrant-by-sam-yakura-5-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Perfect Immigrant’ by Sam Yakura (5 stars)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"W<\/span>hat a fascinating narrative thread: exploring immigration in terms of emigration from one\u2019s home country and<\/em> emigration from one\u2019s family. In Sam Yakura’s comedy The Perfect Immigrant<\/em>, under Charlotte La Nasa\u2019s direction and in conjunction with Irish arts organization Solas Nua, protagonist Levi, played by Joshua Olujide, departs from Nigeria for his master\u2019s program and a new career in Dublin, Ireland. The story blends spoken prose, comedic moments, and soul-baring from a deeply likable and captivating solo performer.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s hard to get a one-man show right \u2014 it\u2019s hard to keep it informative, engaging, and enjoyable the whole time. But what helps The Perfect Immigrant<\/em> succeed is its clear narrative thread. The main character shows us what his narrative goals are at the start: unpacking the cultural changes and changes to his relationship with his parents he\u2019s experiencing in Dublin, and he sticks with those ideas and their consequences through the rest of the narrative to create a satisfying narrative arc. Lights and projections from Hailey LaRoe, especially those marking Levi\u2019s poetry around his experience, also add to the show\u2019s overall cohesion.<\/p>\n

\"\"The show could do with a little less telling and more showing \u2014 maybe less recounting of events and more introspective conversation about them \u2014 but the connection the show makes between the immigrant experience and the universal experience of growing up and making one\u2019s own way makes this show relevant regardless of whether or not you may be a geographic immigrant. Showing as opposed to telling would also enable us to get to know Levi even more beyond simply how he acted in various new situations. We can only learn so much from watching someone: getting inside their head is a whole nother thing.<\/p>\n

Further, on the \u201cshow vs. tell\u201d point \u2014 I am not going to get in the way of the catharsis of writing or hearing immigrant stories for those on the creative team or in the audience. Obviously, even just hearing elements of a story you\u2019ve lived yourself recounted in media is a beautiful thing and one we don\u2019t get enough of. I\u2019m not an immigrant myself, and I know this show was not necessarily \u201cfor me,\u201d but as a young adult who moved out in the last few years, this show built a bridge to help me better understand the immigrant experience. Still, I think that perhaps even more insight could be gleaned from even more of an abstract, poetic approach to talking about this story to truly delve into some of the ideas at play here, not merely to provide commentary on the show\u2019s narrative\u2019s events.<\/p>\n

This show is one of the most engaging and insightful I\u2019ve seen at this year\u2019s Fringe, thanks to its connection of the immigrant and young adult experiences \u2014 it\u2019s wonderful to see new elaborations on narratives that are familiar for some and new for others.<\/p>\n

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Running Time:<\/strong> 60 minutes
\nGenre:<\/strong> Solo\/Comedy
\nDates and Times:<\/strong><\/p>\n