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Arts & Entertainment

'Lost Boy' Play Inspired by Real Events

Playwright met Sudanese immigrants in writing program.

Playwright Tammy Ryan says she is quite different from the main character of her play "Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods."

The character, portrayed by soap-opera star Kim Zimmer, is a white, middle-class, divorced mother of a teen-age daughter who adopts a young black man who has immigrated to the United States from the southern Sudan.

"I don't have the courage and strength of Christine," who invites a stranger to share her home in what Ryan called a "dangerous, impulsive, maybe crazy" act.

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The playwright, who lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and two children, spoke during a discussion after the show Sept. 5. "Lost Boy" is a co-production of Madison-based Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and Premiere Stages, although all performances are at the latter's theater at Kean University in Union.

Instead of adopting one, Ryan wrote a play to increase awareness of the immigrants, known as the "lost boys" because they were separated from their homes and families by civil war when most were 5 or 6 years old. They then walked hundreds of miles across Sudan to Ethiopia, then back to Kenya, where they were housed in United Nations refugee camps for years.

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Ryan got to know some of the young men in Pittsburgh in 2003, when she assisted with a program to help residents express themselves through playwriting. Many of the immigrants were still traumatized even after two years in this country, she said.

An early scene in the play, set in a Whole Foods organic-grocery store in Christine's neighborhood, was inspired by a real incident, during which Ryan saw one of the immigrant employees cut open a papaya for a female customer and tell her about his country.

"At the beginning, I didn't think I had the right to tell their story," Ryan said, adding that she later did a great deal of research into their experiences.

The play was developed during the past year and a half in readings at both Playwrights and Premiere Stages and other locations.

It tells the story of an unlikely friendship that develops between Gabriel, an immigrant working at Whole Foods while attending community college, and Christine, a suburban housewife who seems to be looking for a project after her recent divorce.

Gabriel, as played by Warren Miller, puts on a happy face for the world and seems dedicated to making a life in the U.S., in contrast with his friend Panther, played by Jamil Mangan, who can be quite menacing although he does enjoy watching cable TV on Christine's couch.

The play also deals Christine's relationship with her daughter, Alex, played by Alexandra Rivera. Alex isn't enthusiastic about anything, including helping Gabriel write a paper for his English class.

Trish McCall provides some comic relief from the tough subject matter in her role as a social worker who enlists Christine to assist other immigrants in exchange for her promise to try to find out what happened to Gabriel's family.

Ryan said she doesn't plan to make any major changes in the script before she submits it to other theaters across the country.

She has written nearly a dozen plays, including "Dark Part of the Forest," a winner at the 2006 Premiere Stages Festival, and "Pig," produced at 29th Street Rep in New York.

In conjunction with the production of "Lost Boy," Jon Yak, founder of the Lost Boys Academy, will speak at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Human Rights Institute Gallery at Kean. His talk is free and open to the public.

Also, after the Sunday performance, a representative of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project will speak and answer questions.

For information, call (973) 514-1787.

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