Review: HIDDEN TREASURE: A GEORGIAN IMMIGRANT'S STORY at Ironweed Productions

Towards the end of her one woman show, Hidden Treasure: A Georgian Immigrant's Story, Ketevan Kharshiladze Ussery speaks about a workplace conflict. She details her anger and frustration with the given situation, and then, after a realization, about attaining peace. "This is theatre," she simply says of the conflict, and indeed, life in general, and with that perspective, proceeds on.

Though Ms. Ussery's show details her rather uncommon experience of moving from Georgia to the states, and eventually to New Mexico, the way in which she describes her experiences - through the lens of, simply, someone who has dedicated their life to the theatre - is a reminder that the human experience transcends national borders.

To give a bit of background, Ms. Ussery, who was a highly successful theatre practitioner in her home country, immigrated from Georgia to the United States in 2003. She initially applied to immigrate legally, but when her application was denied, she went through less legal channels. She finally made it to Mexico, where she crossed into El Paso and was, from there, arrested by ICE. She mentions, but does not really delve into, her 35 days long experience in prison; Ms. Ussery has such an infectiously joyous spirit that such a trial, while worth acknowledging, seems like it would simply not be worth the energy (of which she had a lot) to discuss further. When she got out of detention and made it to New York, where she became active in the theatre scene, and eventually met her husband, John Ussery, with whom she came to New Mexico.

With Scott Harrison of Ironweed Productions, she was able to turn a small portion of her immigration story (focusing largely on getting her first American job - it's an engaging story, and one to which anyone who has spent any time working in retail can relate) into the one woman show I had the privilege of seeing Saturday night. Mr. Harrison's direction is both excellent and creative; everything Ms. Ussery does serves her story and feels completely organic and honest, but also helps the audience understand different settings and characters (necessary, as the stage is entirely bare but for two suitcases with which Ms. Ussery comes on stage). Subtle but effective technical design involving lighting by Matt Sanford and sound design by Dan Pilburn also assisted her storytelling.

Even with as wonderful a production team as Ms. Ussery has been provided with, one person shows can be difficult to stage and perform; Ms. Ussery performs hers, however, with effortless charm. She seems to honestly delight in sharing her story with her audience, and engages with them frequently throughout - a knowing smile here, a playful aside there; her expertise in performance is clearly evident throughout the entire show.

While I'm sure Hidden Treasure would be received very well anywhere, it was particularly effective here in Santa Fe, as much of the story had to do with things that were just so completely northern New Mexican/Santa Fean. A particular tangent about road construction between El Rito and Santa Fe drew a great deal of laughter because we all got it. In a similar vein, Ms. Ussery described the rugged beauty of northern New Mexico so elegantly and poetically that I found myself nodding in agreement.

Given the current political climate, it would be tempting to make a play about immigration (or a review thereof) more political; however, that isn't at all what Hidden Treasures is about. The beautiful production currently playing at Teatro Paraguas is so much more about life, grace, and humanity, and one that I think we all could benefit from seeing.

Hidden Treasure runs Thursday-Sunday through March 17th at Teatro Paraguas. Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.ironweedsantafe.com or by phone at 1(800)838-3006. Reservations are strongly encouraged.

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