Upon the recommendation of Megan Gross and Lisa Sommers, our department sponsored a performance of Mother Tongue by The Performance Project’s First Generation Ensemble. The performance took place on September 28th at the Bowker Auditorium, and several of our students and faculty attended.1
Here we are highlighting the performance with the thoughtful and insightful responses and reflections of our students:
Xiangping Li:
The performers in Mother Tongue powerfully portrayed the challenges faced by first-generation immigrants from various countries who come to the United States. Some arrived with hopes of pursuing freedom and equality, only to find themselves living in fear due to their darker skin color. Others experienced alienation and isolation because of cultural and language barriers, struggling to find their place in the vast landscape of America. Some fought to define their gender identity on their own terms, rather than allowing others or their parents to decide it for them, yet they still faced misunderstanding, doubt, and mockery from those around them.
Through their performances, the actors illustrated the harsh realities of survival for first-generation immigrants, highlighting their struggles and aspirations. The small stage served as a window for the audience, including myself, to glimpse diverse cultures and life experiences. The challenges these immigrants face are not merely personal; they reflect deeper issues within American society. Due to a lack of accumulated cultural and material resources compared to long-established residents, first-generation immigrants often feel more vulnerable and lost in the face of these challenges.
This play served as a powerful reminder that much of the world’s misunderstanding and suffering arises from our failure to listen to others. I am grateful to the performers for their heartfelt efforts to raise awareness and break down the barriers of indifference related to race, gender, language, and culture. They succeeded in moving the audience, who responded with enthusiastic applause and heartfelt tears.
As a new immigrant myself, some of the stories depicted on stage resonated deeply with me. During my first few years in the U.S., while working at a pharmacy, I experienced discrimination from customers on two occasions. They told me I should be ashamed of my accented English and that I should go back to my country. I’m thankful that my manager and colleagues immediately stood up against this behavior, offering their strong support. I truly appreciate the impact of this play and hope these stories can be shared with a wider audience.
Madeline Peck:
Sitting in the audience at the performance of Mother Tongue felt like a passage to another world– an hour and a half suspended in time in which all that existed were the storytellers and the stories they entrusted with us. It wasn’t just a theater performance, it was a call to action. A call to not just listen to the youth, but to elevate, celebrate, and honor young people and their strength and wisdom. It made me think about the power of language and story amidst the heartbreak of being a human in a profoundly unjust world. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to receive these stories and witness these performers’ power. I hope to continue to embrace the transformation and personal revolution inspired by their artistry so it may influence my work in the world going forward.
Kim Moïse:
First Generation’s performance of Mother Tongue was unlike anything I’ve seen before. Every person’s stories were so unique and yet interwoven beautifully. Two stories really stuck with me: the story of a young woman losing her language, and the story of two people seeing each other as the one to be scared of, rather than the one that’s scared. I watched Mother Tongue through the lens of a first-generation American and first-generation college student. Growing up in a context where a native language began to fade felt like a profound loss, creating a sense of cultural isolation. Navigating life in an English-dominant environment, and the challenge of balancing identity with the expectations of multiple cultures quickly became disappointing and exhausting, expressed intimately in the performance. Additionally, the dynamic of being scared of those who may harbor their own fears about you—particularly in a racially charged environment—adds another layer of complexity. As a Black individual in predominantly white spaces, the reality is that my presence can evoke apprehension or stereotypes in others. Simultaneously, I can find myself uncertain of perceptions and intentions. So this shared fear/anxiety can create a barrier to genuine connection, reinforcing feelings of isolation that are captured in the performance as well. Overall, Mother Tongue invited me, and hopefully the rest of us, to reflect on these tensions and consider the possibility of dialogue and understanding. It’s a call to recognize that while language and cultural background shape our experiences, they don’t define us entirely. The performance emphasizes the importance of embracing vulnerability by sharing stories and reclaiming identities. It emphasized that my story isn’t just my own, but rather one that resonates with many who navigate similar challenges. The performance is truly a great piece of art that I’d encourage anyone to see.
- Mother Tongue is an original multilingual physical theater performance created by the Performance Project’s First Generation Ensemble. “Mother Tongue” is inspired by the experiences of the ensemble members, their families and communities who are from Congo/Tanzania, Bhutan/Nepal, South Sudan/Darfur, Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts.
The 90-minute performance weaves together movement, music, dance, and stories in Arabic, Swahili, Nepali, Spanish, and English. “Mother Tongue” incorporates themes of language, culture, identity, diaspora, hypermasculinity, transphobia, racism, the school to prison pipeline, and revolution.
Appropriate for ages 12 and up. ↩︎