By Rachel Feintzeig
The Wall Street Journal
July 16, 2009
First there was the raid on the slaughterhouse, then the bankruptcy filing, then the trials. And now, the play.
Agriprocessors, the kosher meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa, that’s entangled in a slew of legal disputes stemming from its alleged mistreatment of immigrant workers, has now inspired action of the artistic variety. Seven Mexican and Guatemalan men who were arrested in the May 2008 raid have embraced their thespian sides and written a play about the experience. They performed “La Historia de Nuestras Vida,” (The Story of Our Lives) at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis last Friday night, bringing all the drama of the ill-fated chicken and beef producer to life before an enthralled audience.
“They told a very compelling story,” Stephanie Bates, a program director for one of the organizations that sponsored the play, said in an interview Thursday. They “created a visible representation of how broken our immigration system is.”
Bates’ group, Resources Center for the Americas, is a human rights organization that has come to the defense of the workers, who they believe were “violated” during their time at the plant. She said the seven-part play, which begins with the men’s arrival in Postville and explores the raid and their time in detention centers, helped to give audience members a fresh perspective on immigration issues.
“I think that it’s really unique for these men to tell a story that’s deeply personal and relate to an audience who probably has no idea what it would be like to go through that situation,” she said.
A lack of personal experience with immigration raids might not have been the only thing infringing on viewers’ ability to understand the performance. It was also presented entirely in Spanish, according to the Associated Press, although the audience was presented with an English translation in their playbooks.
Still, by Bates’ account, the language barrier had little impact on the audience’s ability to connect with the performers and enjoy the play.
“The men got a standing ovation,” she said. “Everyone was on their feet.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2009/07/16/agriprocessors-the-play/?mod=rss_WSJBlog
