Dobama’s ‘Sanctuary City’ is a hodge podge of words with purpose

The first part of the play’s action takes place on a bare raised platform stage that reflects the bleakness of the subject matter. B (Lloyd Wayne Taylor) lives with his mother in Newark, New Jersey. She has overstayed her visa for years. She has grown increasingly weary of the constant threat from immigration officials whose job is to ferret out illegals. B’s mom is making plans to return back to her own country.

G (Diwi Augustin-Glave) is B’s best friend at school. They have known each other since age thirteen. G’s mother is involved in an abusive relationship but because of their immigration status they cannot report it to the authorities. Often, G escapes her apartment to crash at B’s bringing food from work for them to share. Theirs is a platonic tender relationship of support for one other.

Circumstances erratically change when G’s mom suddenly becomes a Naturalized Citizen of the United States of America. This secret action on her part also means that G is a citizen as well. Now G can attend college in Boston on a full scholarship and the two can escape the clutches of mom’s boyfriend. Meanwhile, B’s mom leaves B in the low rent apartment to return to her country of origin. Although he has graduated high school his college prospect is nil and he works at a restaurant/bar being paid under the table far less than he is worth.

As G leaves for Boston, B gives her a ring left by his mother. The plan is to become “married” so that B can become naturalized. Two years into the plan with G still in college she opts out of the arrangement. It is three and a half years since when G arrives at B’s apartment with plans to go through with the marriage in spite of the risks of fines and jail time. The problem is Henry (Jacob Gonzalez) who is B’s gay lover. Even though they are lovers, he cannot supply citizenship because the government refuses to recognize gay marriage.

If you think that this story is a bit confusing...it is. Not only that, the dialogue is performed as out of sequence fragments with changes in lighting to indicate...well, to be honest I am not sure what it indicates. This is not your normal method of time sequenced story telling that we are used to in the theater.

At one point, the stage goes black (there is no intermission for the 100 minute work) and in the gloom two huge apartment segments are slid into place making a clean and rather attractive apartment with Christmas lights, a sofa, table and chairs, coffee table and comfy chair. A bead curtain hands at the entrance of the kitchen and there is an archway leading to the bedroom and bathroom. It is all very cozy. Here we find G trying to resurrect the false marriage relationship when Henry (B’s lover) arrives to put a damper on the proceedings.

Lloyd Wayne Taylor as B is a young actor whom we will be seeing a lot of in the future. He wears his emotion on his sleeve and gives an impressive volatile performance mixed with humor and angst. Diwi Augustin-Glave as G is Taylor’s equal in all aspects of this convoluted tale of the state of American immigration policies following 9/11. The two blend together in a warm embrace. Jacob Gonzalez as Henry is the fly in the ointment antagonist who is trying to keep an impossible situation from spiraling out of control which it already has.

Quentin Ball designed the oddly shaped platform stage making sure that it is sturdy enough to withstand hard use. His “come together” efficiency apartment is a marvel to behold. Madeline Barber is tasked with coming up with ingenious lighting designs to separate the various small segments of dialogue. Megan Culley handles the sound design with the pre-show playlist to various environmental sounds needed to add authenticity. Lady Jen Ryan handles the costume design with clothes that make sense. The show is aptly directed by Nathan Motta.

While at times playful and humorous, the play never strays far from its serious side of the heartbreak of immigration and the stress it causes. Here are people who for all intensive matters are “citizens” who love America and work hard to stay here but by a quirk of fate are hunted. Some audience members may be put off by the out of rhythm syntax exhibited early on. Hang in there...it gets better.

Dobama Theatre’s production of “Sanctuary City” will be on stage at 2340 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio through May 17, 2026. For more information and to order tickets go to https://www.dobama.org/ or call (216) 932-3396.