Anon(ymous)

by Naomi Iizuka

Directed by Stephanie Lein Walseth

November 2 - 19, 2023

at Park Square Theatre

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Playbill

About Anon(ymous).

Tempest-tossed and lost at sea, a young refugee called Anon embarks on a harrowing journey across the United States to find his mother. Based on Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, Anon(ymous) weaves together ancient truths and contemporary realities about re-membering one’s identity and finding home in a strange new land.

Performance and Ticketing Information

Dates

November 2 - 19, 2023

Previews: November 2
Opening Performance: November 3
Wednesday-Saturday evening shows at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Get Tickets Here

Runtime: 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.

Content includes: Light strobing, fog; loud sound effects, including gunshots and explosions; staged violence; mentions of war and death.

Price

Every performance is Pay as You Are Able in accordance with our Mission and Core Values.

Seating is General Admission. Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain.

For box office questions email: fullcircletheatertickets@gmail.com

Covid-19 Policy

Audience Vaccination policy
It is no longer required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results to attend performances.

Audience Mask Policy

Masks are required for all Sunday performances of Anon(ymous).

Audience Responsibility

We ask that guests stay home if they are sick or exposed to COVID-19. Please contact the box office to transfer your tickets to another performance, donate your tickets, or request a refund. Contact the ticket office at fullcircletheatermn.org

We will continue to update this page as we gather new information and will share pertinent updates through email and social media. Please check back as the details and requirements may change.

Thank you for your support and adaptability and we look forward to seeing you at the theatre!

Venue Information

Anon(ymous) will be performed at Park Square Theatre, located at 20 W 7th Pl, St Paul, MN 55102.

For directions or parking information, visit Park Square Theatre’s website. If you are able, please arrive 30 minutes early to allow for parking.

Anon(ymous) Cast

POCIJ018Dominique (1) - Dominique Jones (Xenameir).jpg

Dominique Jones (they/them)

Anon

Charla Marie Bailey* (she/her)

Nemasani

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association

NinchaiNCHeadshot - Ninchai Nok-Chiclana.jpg

Ninchai Nok-Chiclana (she/her)

Naja

Matthew Saxe (he/him)

Mr. Yuri Mackus/Strygal/ Chorus

Edwin Strout

(he/him)

Senator Lauis/Mr. Zyclo/Nice American Father/Chorus

Winifred Froelich (she/her)

Helen Lauis/Zyclo's Pet Bird/ Nice American Mother/ Chorus

Jones_Gabrielle_HS - Gabrielle Jones.jpg

Gabrielle Jones (she/her)

Calista/Sewing Lady/Nice American Daughter/Chorus

James L. Almen (he/him)

Ali/Ignacio/Chorus

Nina Aguilera (she/her)

Nasreen/Belen/Sewing Lady/Chorus

Jasmine Porter (she/her)

Ritu/Serza/Sewing Lady/ Chorus

Chris Collier

(he/him)

Pascal/Chorus

Dramaturgical Context for
Anon(ymous) by Alex Church

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

This is the poem emblazoned onto the base of the Statue of Liberty. You may recognize its most iconic last 6 lines. What many don’t know is that the poet, Emma Lazarus, was a fervent advocate for refugees worldwide, but specifically Jewish refugees. She was an activist in resettlement and integration efforts in her native New York. As seen in Colossus, her poetry unabashedly proclaims the dignity of immigrants the world over.

Anon(ymous) Synopsis

Naomi Iizuka’s breathtaking play takes its inspiration from Homer’s ancient epic poem, The Odyssey, and adapts it through the lens of the contemporary refugee seeking a home in the US. Like Odysseus, who roamed the Adriatic Sea for 10 years before returning to his home, Anon has been adrift from his home - his mother - for an unknown number of years. While she toils in a textile factory under an oppressive boss, Anon has survived a refugee camp and has been adopted by a “Nice American Family” from which he has recently run away. When the goddess Naja offers him help, he begins a perilous journey, encountering dangerous foes, exploitative employers, and other resilient refugees. Through each of these challenges, Anon must piece himself together anew. He must literally re-member his identity in this strange, new land.

Anon(ymous) Production History

Anon(ymous) was commissioned by The Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis after Elissa Addams, CTC’s Director of New Work, saw Iizuka’s play Polaroid Stories. That play, a riff on Kafka’s Metamorphosis, was inspired by her interactions with Minneapolis teenagers. Anon(ymous) received development and staged readings through the Kennedy Center’s New Visions New Voices series in 2004 (Washington D.C.), and through the Public Theatre’s New Works Now program in 2005 (NYC), before making its world premiere production at CTC in April 2006.

See Playbill for Full Bio

About the Playwright of Anon(ymous)

Naomi Iizuka was born in Tokyo, Japan; then lived in Jakarta, Indonesia; Amsterdam, Netherlands; before eventually Washington, D.C. She cites her mutli-cultural upbringing as a huge influence in her life and work.

“I remember there was a pool at the apartment building where we first lived, and the people there talked all different languages. There were people from different parts of India, people from Africa, people from South America” — many of them foreign diplomats or scholars and their families. And it was the ’70s. It was a period where, in the water, there was a kind of curiosity about other cultures. So I think I had from a pretty early age an awareness that the world was big. And to some degree mysterious. And I was really curious about knowing more.”

The Odyssey

In addition to other influences, Iizuka’s script draws from one of the most famous stories in recorded history. The Odyssey has inspired millenia of scholarship in the form of painting, poetry, pottery, mosaic, textual analysis, and more. It is one of the most depicted stories ever told.

Homer’s epic poem details the journey of the great King Odysseus, stranded on a deserted island after the Battle of Troy. While his son, Telemachus searches the seas for his father, his wife Penelope desperately tries to hold their house together as hordes of men clamor to marry her and claim Odysseus’ kingdom for themselves. Odysseus and Telemachus are helped and hindered in their journey by a chorus of gods and goddesses, notably Athena and Poseidon. Where Athena guides the heroes through countless challenges, Poseidon holds firm to a grudge against Odysseus for blinding his son, the great cyclops Polyphemus. The result is a sprawling epic that crisscrosses the Adriatic Sea over the course of 10 years, eventually ending in a bloodbath battle for Odysseus’ kingdom, where the guilty are slain and the family reunited.

While there are countless translations of The Odyssey, notably the first translation by a woman was released in 2018. Emily Wilson’s version deconstructs earlier translations through a bias-conscious lens, removing several problematic ideas around the women in the story that have been widely accepted by previous male translators. This was the translation used as a dramaturgical resource for this production.

Homer

While he is credited as the writer of both The Odyssey and another great epic poem, The Iliad, there is much debate as to whether one man actually created them. Some scholars suggest that Homer never really existed, and both of his epics were really amalgamations of smaller stories that were stitched together over time and eventually credited to one man. Others suggest he was a blind storyteller who traveled through Greece around 800 BCE. There is almost universal agreement that both poems were never originally written down, but rather they were told orally for centuries before being put into written language.

Elements of Epic Poetry

You will notice these elements in both The Odyssey and Anon(ymous). While contemporary American audiences are more used to psychological realism as the dominant narrative mode in theater, understanding these elements of ancient, epic poetry can help us better understand and frame a story like Anon(ymous).

Six Elements Of The Epic:

(From the University of Idaho, Literature of Western Civilization course, Professor Tom Drake)

https://webpages.uidaho.edu/engl257/General%20lit/six_elements_of_the_epic.htm

Plot centers around a Hero of Unbelievable Stature. The epic hero completes what everyone only attempts. In ancient epics, the hero often is either partially divine or at least protected by a god or God.
Involves deeds of superhuman strength and valor. Accomplish feats no real human could.
Vast Setting. The action spans not only geographical but also often cosmological space: across land, sea, into the underworld, or thru space or time etc.
Involves supernatural and-or otherworldly forces. Gods, demons, angels, time/space travel, cheating death etc.
Sustained elevation of style. Overwritten. Overly formal, highly stylized (poetry, lyricism (singing), exaggeration)
Poet remains objective and omniscient. The narrator sees and knows all and presents all perspectives.

Elements of Epic Poetry

(From Harmon, William; Holman, C. Hugh (1999). A Handbook to Literature (8th ed.). Prentice Hall.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_poetry#cite_note-Harmon-Holman-1999-12

Begins in medias res ("in the thick of things").(Narrative opens "in the middle of things", with the hero at his lowest point. Usually flashbacks show earlier portions of the story.)
The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe.
Begins with an invocation to a muse (epic invocation).
Begins with a statement of the theme.
Includes the use of epithets.
Contains long lists, called an epic catalogue.
Features long and formal speeches.
Shows divine intervention in human affairs.
Features heroes that embody the values of the civilization.
Often features the tragic hero's descent into the underworld or hell.

The hero generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey, and returns home significantly transformed by his journey. The epic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society the epic originates from.

Character Parallels Between Anon(ymous) and The Odyssey (plus other influences!)

Sources:

https://southbaymt.com/2021/03/comparing-anonymous-characters-to-their-odyssey-inspirations/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qm6j1mFkQ_uI7vwF1yMEZ8MDgZ0zVYTt/view?usp=drive_link

Anon — Odysseus

The titular hero of both stories. A brave, courageous, and lost soul often caught in the whims of forces far larger than he could ever imagine.

Nemasani — Penelope

The heart of the hero, though also a hero in her own right. Both women face unimaginable pressures to abandon their personhood and love and submit to an overbearing suitor.

Nemasani derives from "Mnemosyne," (Nih-mah-sin-ee) the goddess of memory, the daughter of heaven (Uranus) and earth (Gaea) and the mother of the muses. From Wikipedia: Mnemosyne, on the other hand, traditionally appeared in the first few lines of many oral epic poems [8]—she appears in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, among others—as the speaker called upon her aid in accurately remembering and performing the poem they were about to recite. Mnemosyne is thought to have been given the distinction of "Titan" because memory was so important and basic to the oral culture of the Greeks that they deemed her one of the essential building blocks of civilization in their creation myth.[8]

Naja — Athena

The spiritual being guiding the journey of their hero. Naja has multiple origins, including a Sanskrit word referring to the spirit of the earth who protected Buddha during a terrible storm, a girl who is also a goddess, and a female name of Arabic origin that means rescue, escape.

Mr. Yuri Mackus — Eurymachus

An aggressive and aggrieved suitor attempting to sway the heart of Nemasani/Penelope and lay claim to their family riches.

Mr. Zyclo — Polyphemus (the Cyclops)

A one-eyed man-eater with a haughty taste for the finer things in life. In the Odyssey, Polyphemus is a Cyclops who lives in a cave, tends sheep, and who kills and eats many of Odysseus’ men. In Anon(ymous), Mr. Zyclo is a butcher with an eye patch who loves opera and makes sausages out of human flesh.

Senator Laius — Menelaus

Senator Laius, in the American Theater Wing version of the script, is described as “a war hero”, akin to his Odyssey composite, King Menelaus of Sparta. He would marry the famed Helen of Troy and be an essential part to the famous Trojan War.

Helen Lauis — Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships. Though the exact details vary depending on the storyteller, Helen of Troy is known throughout Greek mythology as an incredibly beautiful person and an essential figure in the Trojan War. Some say the Trojan Prince Paris kidnapped Helen and spirited her away to Troy, others say she fell in love with him and fled Sparta willingly. Almost all accounts cite her as the primary cause for the mythical conflict between Sparta and Troy.

Calista — Calypso

Where Calista is a spoiled, bratty young woman who frequently tries to seduce Anon, Odysseus famously resisted the nymph Calypso’s advances for seven years. Most (and exclusively male) translators depict Calypso as a sexually charged figure who tempts Odysseus with seduction and promises of immortality. However, Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey, the first by a female translator, reframes Calypso as merely lonely on her island and calls into question centuries of male perspectives on Odysseus’ famed quasi-sexual imprisonment thus far accepted as fact within the mythology.

Strygal - Laestrygonians

In Anon(ymous) Naomi Iizuka makes Strygal a son of Mr. Zyclo, the cannibal butcher who kills Pascal after the boys stumble in looking for work. In the mythos, Laestrygonians were a race of giants Odysseus and his army cross paths with on their way home to Ithaca. The giants destroy all their ships except for Odysseus'.

Ali - Alcinous

Where Ali is a blind man helping his family run an Indian restaurant, Alcinous was the mythical king of the Phaeacians and friend to Odysseus. He visits their kingdom as his final stop before returning home, and uses the rest to tell them his journey.

Nasreen - Nausicaa

Nasreen, the wise daughter who finds Anon in a dumpster, reflects the meet-cute of Nausicaa and Odysseus. While washing clothes with her handmaids, she finds Odysseus washed up naked on the beach. She recognizes him as royalty and invites him to tell his tale to her parents, King Alcinous and Queen Arete. In some versions she’s a potential love interest, in others she marries his son Telemachus.

Ritu - Arete

Ritu’s steadfast pragmatism and wariness of Anon eventually fades into deep connection. When Odysseus arrives in the kingdom of the Phaeacians, he follows Nausicaa to Queen Arete. She works dutifully to manage the palace and provides Odysseus with hospitality while he recovers and recounts his tale. It is both Ritu and Arete’s plans that set the hero on their path home.

Serza - Circe

Serza’s bar resembles the island of Aeaea, the lair of Circe. Both women use music and magic to transform humans into her pawns. For Serza, she uses alcohol to make her victims barflies. For Circe, she famously transformed Odysseyus’ crew into pigs.

Pascal - Polites

Pascal, a West African refugee, is the one person Anon truly connects with in his journey. He mirrors Polites, Odysseus’ best friend who frequently leads him out of danger.

Refugees - Definitions, Overview, and Links to Learn More

Definitions

Following the massive displacement and resettlement efforts during/after World War Two, the United Nations established the following definitions that are used to distinguish displaced people based on their specific situations. The definitions were created at the 1951 Refugee Convention, which also established a set of international rights for anyone meeting the definitions herein:

Asylum-seekers
- People who have fled their home country and are specifically seeking entrance entrance to another country via an asylum claim
- All refugees eventually become asylum-seekers, though not all asylum-seekers are refugees
Refugees
- Short definition: “people fleeing conflict, persecution and human rights abuses who have crossed a border into another country.”
- Long definition from the United Nations: someone who, "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it"
- Refugees are assumed to be so until proven otherwise
Internally displaced people
- People who are forced to flee their homes but do not leave the borders of their home country, whether by choice or not. Often the most at risk due to proximity to conflict zones, government ambivalence/inability to provide resources, and/or difficulty for aid agencies to reach them
Stateless people
- People who are not recognized by a specific state entity, and as a result have no nationality or paperwork that would allow them to access basic services like healthcare and education within a country

Despite the semantics of the above definitions, it’s important to recognize that all of the above people have been forcibly displaced from their homes by way of conflict, persecution, disaster, or any other reasonable fear of harm to them or their families.

While governments can debate over the exact definitions of an individual person’s situation, the reality is that anyone seeking to fall under one of these categories has gone through an intense, often traumatic journey. Many suffer from anxiety, depression, and PTSD as a result of their experience in their home country which can be exacerbated by poor conditions and difficult resettlement processes in their host countries.

Life

Refugees are often displaced for 10-26 years while they wait for asylum claims to process, things to calm down in their home country, or a new nation to take them in. In 2016, less than 3% of global refugees were officially settled/resettled. Because it takes so long to gain any level of citizenship status, many displaced people lack the documentation necessary to be able to work legally in their host country. As a result, many are forced into dangerous, low-paying, and informal job areas that leave them exposed to abuse but without any option of recompense.

76% of all refugees live in low/middle-income countries.

Life in a camp

While no refugee camp is the same, they are often woefully underfunded leading to a non-existent basic standard of living for residents. Camps are often incredibly crowded with next to no basic infrastructure. Shelters often are made with cheap, easily accessible materials that make them incredibly susceptible to flooding, rain, mudslides, heat, and extreme weather.

FURTHER: For more intimate details about life inside a refugee camp, see this piece exploring the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. The camp is populated by Rohingya muslims fleeing an ongoing genocide by the government of south-asian nation of Myanmar.

Life in the city

60% of all refugees globally live in cities rather than camps where they can face harassment and violence from their new neighbors. Because of a lack of documentation and bias, many refugees are forced to work in sectors with abysmal conditions and next to no legal protections.

For more information about the challenges faced by refugees and immigrants, and the resources available to help and support them here in Minnesota, please see our community partner websites for Anon(ymous):

The Advocates for Human Rights

https://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/Home

Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee

https://www.miracmn.com/