RiffRaff NYC to Present IMMIGRANT STORIES - LIFE IN AMERICA

RiffRaff NYC will present its third immigrant theater festival: Immigrant Stories - Life in America, running May 22-24 at The Rat NYC. This bold new event features five original short plays that offer compelling, often surprising perspectives on what it means to navigate identity, belonging, and resilience as an immigrant in the United States.

After launching two immigrant-focused play festivals in 2024, RiffRaff NYC returns with another powerful installment that deepens its mission of elevating underrepresented voices. The collective was founded by Joe Staton and Dorothea Gloria as a platform specifically for immigrant artists to share their stories through live performance.

The Lineup:

Public Comment

By Brad White
At a small-town forum, neighbors air familiar complaints-noise, traffic, potholes-until an immigrant steps to the microphone. What follows is a gripping, unpredictable confrontation with fear, prejudice, and the uncomfortable truths communities often try to ignore.

Nightmares Spring From American Dreams

By Kathryn Ryan
Jessica has always considered herself American-until she learns she may be deported because of an adoption paperwork error. As her life unravels, she's forced to depend on a faceless system for compassion. A haunting look at the fragile ground beneath even the most "American" identities.

Once In A Lifetime

By Andrew Rusli
In this surreal and poetic dream-play, a man revisits his Indonesian grandparents who immigrated to Texas in the 1950s. Over golf, burgers, and a strange, symbolic meal, he grapples with heritage, assimilation, and the ghostly pull of family and culture.

War-torn Countries

By Maroun Rached
A tense long-distance call between old friends takes an unexpected turn when a third voice enters: a narrator stuck in limbo, weighing whether to leave his war-torn homeland behind. A powerful meditation on friendship, identity, and the cost of survival.

Mo Smaointe (My Thoughts)