Feature: HOW TO KEEP AN ALIEN at Solas Nua

In an age when we are tearing down digital walls and erecting physical ones, Solas Nua brings us Sonya Kelly's brilliant and autobiographical How to Keep an Alien, which tells the story of two people "falling in love and proving it to the government". Irish Sonya has met and fallen for Australian Kate. When Kate's Irish work visa expires and she is deported back to Australia, the two must convince the government to issue her a new one.

In bringing this story to a DC audience, Artistic Director Rex Daugherty hopes to "widen the lens on immigration." While the story "comes from a very Irish perspective, it illustrates that we are all connected, that we all deal with similar issues." Kelly agrees. "We may try to make it look like a pyramid but it's a circle. The world's problems are everyone's problems."

Immigration woes have long been fodder for "romantic" films (think 1990's Green Card with Andie McDowell and Gérard Depardieu), but given our current geopolitical climate, the subject may seem a bit heavy for a comedy. Daugherty explains, "comedy knocks down barriers and allows us to tell a story that may be too polarizing if done as a more serious play."

"The experience of having to prove the existence of a relationship to the state with hardcopy evidence was a strange and surreal process," Kelly says. "It changed me, opened my eyes to the broader immigration problems of the world, both presently and historically. In trying to get the person I loved to remain in the country, I found myself politicised by my immediate needs. The micro met the macro." She hopes that audiences "laugh at the lunacy of the show and I hope they have a bit of a think also."

The play has gone through several developments since its 2014 premiere at the Dublin Fringe Festival and Solas Nua's production is only the second in America, following a 2016 run at New York City's Irish Arts Centre. A West Coast premiere is slated for 2019. This production also marks the first time that an actress other than Kelly will step into the role of Sonya.

Director Tom Story and actress Tonya Beckman have worked intensively to craft a character that honors Kelly's experience and best tells her story. It begins with a little sleuthing, according to Story, for clues to her personality found in the writing. He sees Sonya, the character, as a "flawed, complicated, slightly neurotic human being". As for Sonya, the playwright, she "uses language in a particularly Irish way - irreverent and poetic, but also a little kooky."

A deliberate omission in this play is any tension or controversy involving Sonya and Kate's same-sex relationship. Says Story, "LGBTQ representation on stage is so important. We don't see a ton of stories about queer women." The tension, instead, is caused by the unknown outcome of Kate's petition. This is heightened by the fact that the audience never actually sees Kate on stage. Her absence hovers over the play like a tightrope.

Nick Fruit rounds out the cast of two as the "Stage Manager".

How to Keep an Alien runs November 28 - December 16 at Dance Loft on 14th Street NW. The venue is accessible by MetroBus/Rail. Free parking is available nearby. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Solas Nua website.

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