Why It Matters?
People have migrated throughout history, ever since Moses left Egypt. And as long as we humans inhabit this Earth, we will continue to migrate from one region to another.
Today, the word “Immigrant” has become loaded with negative connotations. But, the fact is, that if we stop and think for a minute, we all come from somewhere else. Unless you are Native American, someone in your family history migrated to this land, the United States, voluntarily or involuntarily. The United States is a melting pot and our own history bears this out.
Our History
Early English settlements marked the beginning of large-scale migration from Europe to the territory that would become the United States. Approximately 60% of British immigrants to the American colonies between the 1630s and the American Revolution arrived as indentured servants. Indentured servitude was a common way to finance the voyage and secure a new life.
Then from 1840 to 1880 approximately five million Germans immigrated to the United States. Their decision was driven by poor economic conditions at home, religious or political oppression as well as the prospect of abundant land and religious freedom in America. Also, during the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852), an estimated two million people emigrated to the United States from Ireland. This mass exodus was driven by widespread starvation and disease caused by the failure of the potato crop.
Between 1880 and 1920 over 4 million Italians immigrated to the United States, with a peak during the "Great Arrival" which was largely fueled by poverty and difficult living conditions in Southern Italy and Sicily. From 1870 to 1890 there were waves of Polish, Greek, Hungarian and other Slavic immigrants.
This play does something no other play has ever attempted to do on the immigration topic. This play goes in depth into the decision that a person struggles with when they ponder the decision to emigrate.
In The Avocado Tree the audience is transported into the shoes of three people who are in a violent war-torn country and must make the decision of whether to remain in their home country, attempt to emigrate the legal route to the United States or attempt the perilous journey to come to the United States illegally. Each decision contains risk.
“And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers once in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19: 33-34
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