Far From Home at Chapel Theater

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Far From Home is a collection of short works united by the arc of immigration and overcoming difficulties as a foreigner in the US. It attempts to depict two different stories: the story of a young woman who immigrated to the United States as she faced a ban on acting in her home country, Iran, and the story of an immigrant man who, as told by his daughter, prepared all his life for the American Dream and ultimately surrendered to destiny.

This show will be led by two women immigrants from different countries, Iran and Russia, in 3 different languages. We will bring our complex stories to the audience in a caring and honest way.

This show started as a short piece and was presented at the 12 MM Festival at the Base Space (Seattle) and Spring Shot 2023 at the 18th and Union Theater (Seattle). This next iteration of the project will let us go deeper into the topic of immigration and misfits, devising an hour-long show. We aim to go deeper with the story's intimacy, embody the journey, and enrich it with personal details.

“With a box full of hopes and dreams and all the banned plays, I migrated to a country that would be a refuge for me and my scripts. I can say that after 10 years, I can perform freely on stage and not be afraid of anything. I tried and fought for years to perform my plays as an actor on the stage, but because of the censorship, I could never do it. At the university, they didn't let me defend my thesis because it was about women's dance and body movements. Dance and movement are prohibited for Iranian women on stage, in many shows, and also in the text I wrote and now only their place is in the closet in my house, because several times they rejected my shows due to censorship, and migration was my only way.”– Julia Rahmanzaei

“I want to dedicate this work to my father, who had a difficult time as an immigrant in the US. He went through many challenges and has been denying himself everything for his family. "The Old Man" is my way of saying thank you to him and all the sacrifices he made while he passed away.” – Olga Kravtsova

This show is one of an amazing, robust variety of works in PDX Playwrights Presents: The Festival Within the Festival, which runs from April 16th to 21st.

Were: Chapel Theater - 4107 SE Harrison St, Milwaukie, OR 97222

When: April 17, 5:30 p.m.

           April 19, 12:30 p.m.

           April 20, 5:30 p.m.