If you were a fan of Ironbound, which was recently at the Geffen Playhouse, you’ll want to check out playwright Martyna Majok’s Queens which is in performance at the La Jolla Playhouse through July 29th.
Majok, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama this year for her play Cost of Living, saw the world premiere of Queens at Lincoln Center earlier this year. In Queens Majok depicts the immigrant experience as seen through the eyes of Reina. She, like the women she meets when she moves into that burrough in New York, has immigrated to the United States in pursuit of a better future. She becomes landlord at the building and is faced with a woman who challenges her choice to relocate and abandon her home.
Carey Perloff directs this production. The cast includes Brenda Meaney as “Reina,” Jolly Abraham as “Aamani/Yara”, Leslie Fray as “Pelagiya/Dragana,” Rae Gray as “Inna/Tanya”, Melisa Miller as “Agata” and Xochiti Romero as “Isabela/Glenys.”