Cooperative Performance tackles immigration in 'Ellis'

Alejandra Gonzalez came to the United States from Mexico when she was 5 years old, eventually settling with extended family in an attic in Milwaukee. 

She’s lived here ever since, but Gonzalez wonders if she will be deported to Mexico, a country she hasn’t known for almost 20 years.

Her experiences comprise one of nine stories in Ellis, the latest from Cooperative Performance, a 5-year-old Milwaukee theatrical cooperative devoted to giving voice to artists and issues.

Performances run Feb. 9–24 at Alverno College’s Pitman Theatre, with a free performance Feb. 18 in the Milwaukee City Hall Rotunda.

Named for Ellis Island — once New York Harbor’s beacon of hope for immigrants from around the world — Ellis was devised and directed by Cooperative Performance members Kelly Coffey and Don Russell. Gonzalez also played a role in the development of the show, which features drama, dance, poetry, music — and even a few recipes.

“We realized that our identities are linked to the foods we eat and that this could be a thread throughout the whole piece,” says Russell. “We asked Alejandra for one of her mother’s recipes, which gave us a total of three, then used the recipes as chorus pieces, in which all the performers share various lines.”

Recasting ‘immigrant’ in a positive light

Coffey, in January 2017, pitched the idea of a performance based on immigration to the Cooperative Performance board, which operates like one big creative director, and the group green-lighted the project. 

“In the current political climate, the word ‘immigrant’ unfortunately has become synonymous with the word ‘criminal,’” says Coffey, who works as a nurse and raises a family when she’s not involved in theater. “Our project’s purpose is to change that view and bring back the humanity that should be there instead.”

A mutual friend introduced Coffey to Gonzalez, an Alverno student. Along with Russell, the three agreed to act as co-creators and collaborators on the project.

Gonzalez’s story is a compelling one, and fits the general thread of the narrative well. As a member of the group of immigrants granted protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival initiative, Gonzalez’s future is shrouded in uncertainty, since DACA’s future remains unclear.

“I fall under the ‘Dreamer’ category, although personally I don’t embrace that word,” Gonzalez says. “I am protected from deportation until October, unless I renew my DACA status. I am waiting to see if the Dream Act passes. If it doesn’t, I will renew in June so I can be protected for two more years.”

Gonzalez faced many roadblocks to the American dream, a dream that many of her peers took for granted, she says.

“I was very frustrated, which carried into my adulthood,” she says. “I drove illegally to jobs that didn’t allow me to use my full potential. I battled with depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and suicidal thoughts. My immigration status really affected my mental health.”

DACA, established in 2012 by the Obama administration, offered her and other “Dreamers” a renewable two-year shield from deportation and the ability to apply for work permits. DACA protection enabled Gonzalez to attend Alverno to work toward a degree in community leadership and development, with a minor in global studies.

Recent attempts by President Donald Trump to “wind down” DACA could change all of that for her and others.

The stories of other participating immigrants are similar.

Generating participation was not easy, though.

Despite social media postings requesting immigrants’ stories, the producers were surprised by the low response, Russell says.

“We’re not exactly sure why we received such a limited number of responses, but we fear that the current political climate contributed to the situation,” Russell says.

Highlighting ‘shared humanity’

Similar to other projects on which they’ve worked together, Coffey and Russell gathered the stories and developed a “performance collage” of content, movement and sound. In addition, the pair chose stories that offered glimpses into immigrants’ lives without turning the work into a political soapbox.

“When a group of people become a political talking point, they are easily dehumanized and we lose the perspective on the individuals and uniqueness of their situation,” Russell says. “We hope Ellis highlights our shared humanity, rather than a distancing otherness, which the politicization of immigrants tends to create.”

After its theatrical construction by Coffey and Russell, Ellis features nine stories from eight authors, a poem, three recipes and an audio recording from an art installation piece layered with music to create a dance segment. The pair acted as editor and arrangers of that content.

“The immigration question affects everyone,” Coffey says. “Pulling families apart, using people as pawns in political negotiations and creating borders between people and communities only serve to disintegrate society.”

Russell asks, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could lean on each other throughout life’s long, arduous journey, be there for each other and take care of one another? Who knows when we ourselves may become the other.”

On stage

Cooperative Performance’s production of Ellis, devised and developed by Kelly Coffey and Don Russell in collaboration with Alejandra Gonzalez, runs Feb. 9–24 at the Pitman Theatre at Alverno College, 3401 S. 39th St., Milwaukee. General admission is $15 and $10 for seniors and Alverno students and faculty. Tickets are at brownpapertickets.com/event/3192774. A free performance is at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Milwaukee City Hall Rotunda, 200 E. Wells St., Milwaukee. For more, go to cooperativeperformance.org.