Art imitates Life... or does Life imitate Art?

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Alexis Soloski wrote an article titled Immigration Has an Emotional Price, published by the New York Times on 2022. In the article, Soloski reviews Lloyd Suh's account of immigration through a theatrical piece  "The Far Country" it was directed by Eric Ting and takes place in China's Guangdong Province and San Francisco. It follows the character named Gee and his journey as he is interrogated by immigration, he claims that his documentation was in destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The white interrogator isn't at all convinced by it. 

The play adds exposure to Angel Island, on the West Coast it served as an immigration station at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It was heavily targeted by Congress causing a direct target to the masses of immigrants from Asia, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed as a result to limit immigration. In Suh's play, a park ranger discovers poems written on the walls of buildings on the detention centers, one of the poems goes as follows:

Nights are long and the pillow cold,

who can pity my loneliness?

After experiencing such loneliness and sorrow,

Why not just return home and and learn to plow the fields?

The poem embodies the hardships pushed through the immigrant journey to the result of hopelessness.  LLoyd Suh's approach in weaving complicated topics such as immigration, institutionalized racism and the realist human nature to do anything possible to survive in a form of art such a theatrical piece emphasizes the culture impact foreigners go through during the immigration process.

As a foreigner, there is a promise given to anyone who coupes up the courage to give up their life for a new one. In a foreign culture, this exchange is a luxury choice for a better life. A play like "The Far Country" showcases that immigration is much more of a complex topic a part from the journey, it's a battle of self-identity, hope and resistance. 

Art performances of topics that are glorified by generations of promises to new opportunities turning around stripping it to the raw realities is a culture shock. By being vocal about the difficulties it brings perspective to rigged promises.