Bring Yearning to Breathe Free to the Wilbury!

Want to help bring Yearning to Breathe Free to the Professional Stage?

Yearning to Breathe Free, an original play, by Maya Laur ‘24, is an intergenerational, intercontinental reimagining of immigration stories that critiques current immigration policies, weaves together immigration narratives of the past and present, and envisions a world where all are welcome. This spring, the Wilbury theater, a local professional theater, has invited me to put on a staged-reading of the show at their downtown Providence location on April 13. I've already assembled a director, cast, and dramaturg/historical consultant team comprised of Brown undergrads, community actors, and MFA grad-students. Our group represents a diversity of experiences with immigration, including Latin American immigrants, grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, and people whose family members have sought asylum in the U.S. In order to make this project possible, I need to compensate my collaborators for their time and insights with a fare wage, as well as pay the Wilbury rental fee. Please find the play synopsis and description below.

"In 1919, the Polish-Jewish refugee Adina flees her home country and boards a steamship to America, seeking solace beneath the promise of Lady Liberty’s torch. Yet two timelines collide aboard this single vessel when she meets Mariella, a Guatemalan asylum seeker escaping the political brutality of 2026. Separated by decades but bound by the same dream, they share their tumultuous past, envision an American beginning, and chart their journeys: yearning to breathe free. Yearning To Breathe was inspired in part by research at the Mexican-American border, conversations and workshops with asylum seekers and immigrants of various backgrounds, and my own great-grandparents lived experiences of refugeeism."

Your donation will allow us to take Yearning to Breathe Free beyond the walls of the university and transform it into a community-endeavor and a collaborative-theater making process. It is my hope that this staged reading will empower us all to build solidarity across centuries, continents, borders, and backgrounds as we uplift each others’ immigrant histories and imagine a world where all are welcome. Together, in this workshop, we will harness art as a tool for revolution, dream up our collective liberation, and chart our journeys, yearning to breathe free. In helping me to pay my actors and space rental fee, you make this show possible. I am so grateful for your support making this show possible.