EthiopianAmerica
by Sam Kebede
directed by Sophiyaa Nayar*
May-Jun 2019 | Victory Gardens
About
If the American dream is a privilege, not a right, then Girma and Elizabeth Kifle have truly earned it. After emigrating from Ethiopia to the United States with nothing, the couple is poised to send their eldest son to college. But everything behind Girma and Elizabeth's white picket fence is not as it appears to be. The ghosts of the life they left in Ethiopia threaten to destroy their American dream before it starts, and the Kifle sons, Jonathan and Daniel, reckon with being American in Ethiopian bodies. In this tense and sharply-drawn family drama, playwright Sam Kebede mines the immigrant experience and asks how far each of us will go to find a place we can call home.
Artists
Johnathan Kifle — Simon Gebrebedhin
Elizabeth Kifle — Gabrielle Lott-Rogers
Daniel Kifle — Freedom Martin
Girma Kifle — Joseph Primes
Asst. Director — Ebony Chuukwu
Stage Manager — Rebecca Ross
Asst. Stage Manager — Ariel Beller
Scenic Design + Painting — Eleanor Kahn
Costume Design — Paul Kim
Lighting Design — Eric Watkins
Sound Design — Joshua Willcox
Props Design — Therese Richie
Technical Director — Caswell James
Production Manager — Neel McNeill*
Asst. Production Manager — Alexandra Oparka*
Lighting Asst. — Slick Jorgensen*
Master Electrician — Alon Stotter
Lead Electrician — Louis Lothan
Dramaturg — Athanasia Giannetos
Dialect Coach — Sana Selemon
Intimacy Director — Maya Prentiss
Fight Choreography — Casey Hoekstra
Casting — AJ Links
Graphic Design — Ari Craven*
*Denotes Definition Theatre ensemble member
Photos by Joe Mazza | Brave Lux
