Cartography

See it if You want a family show about immigration. A great way to get the idea across about how to grasp such a big subject. Clever staging.

Don't see it if Your idea of immigration is building a wall. You need this more than anyone but we all know it’s a waste of time.

See it if There is one magic moment. Went w 9&13 year old. They were bored. some was meaningful but much went over their heads. Refugees are like us.

Don't see it if If you want a thoughtful, fully rounded view of refugees see The Jungle which returns this year. This didn't challenge it felt remote.

See it if you empathize w/refugees striving to find a safer, happier life for themselves & their families. See it *especially* if you don’t empathize.

Don't see it if you have no need for or interest in human connection.

Also This play is compelling and important, and needs to be seen all across this country.... Read more Read less

See it if As play addresses immigration policy & treatment of immigrants thru eyes of personal experiences & treatments. Actors were compelling.

Don't see it if As play was more like a docu-drama. Playwright did a poor job of pulling this important topic together.

See it if an intelligent play for a young adult audience sounds interesting to you.

Don't see it if a young adult play about immigration seen through of said immigrants doesn't interest you.

Also This production developed through New Voctory LabWorks is an interesting use of theater to talk about the important and complex issue of immigration. It was interesting to watch this production unfold layer after layer and still be able to reach the young audience it was being performed for.... Read more Read less

See it if You are going with kids, I guess. There were a lot of kids. It was interesting, but I think it was more sentimental that provocative.

Don't see it if You want to see something new and groundbreaking. The idea is good, but they didn't really get it there.

See it if you are interested in the hopes, fears, struggles, past & present stories of asylum seekers in the US. Moving stories that should be heard!

Don't see it if you don't care about humanity and people who try to survive & make better lives for themselves here in spite of leaving behind family.

See it if you want to be moved to tears and step into the shoes of a human being running to a better life and away from war & lack of opportunity.

Don't see it if You couldn't care less about the plight of the world's displaced citizens from wars, violence, poverty, natural disasters.

Also Seeing this very well written, produced and acted first hand historical testimony of migration, I thought how sad that the audience is mostly those of us who are already onboard of the compassionate and empathy train.

This is exactly the kind of hard hitting dramatization of the present global citizen, who without much choice in the matter, is forced to run for his/her life away from their birth-place, seeking safety and economic opportunity.

This drama needs to be presented to people who are willfully deaf and dumb to the kind of desperation that drives people to risk their lives to reach a new and often unfriendly country. I imagined the four very friendly, actors giving a performance in the Capital building rotunda, a beautiful space that is very fitting to echo the beautiful songs in different languages, that are hard for a heart to ignore, even if reason and special interest works hard to do so. GOP elected politicians are the ideal audience for this, for we must convert them... Read more Read less

See it if You're looking for an easily accessible look at refugees and their plight across the globe.

Don't see it if You want a deeper dive into the world refuge crisis seen from its many angles and perspectives.

See it if You are curious about refugees, you like multimedia, audience interaction, and devised work.

Don't see it if You only like linear storytelling told in a very traditional format.

Also It's an ambitious show with some great moments and talented performers, but it seems like it still needs work, in terms of making the different pieces hang together. The audience interaction bit with cell phones was messy and basically only works with iPhones.... Read more Read less

See it if you like interactive theater about the refugees leaving their homes for a better life.

Don't see it if you're not comfortable about stories of immigration and the plight of people trying to get into the United States.

See it if Non-linear. Interactive. Young refugees tell individual & collective stories about what it means to leave home behind & start a new life.

Don't see it if You don’t enjoy non-linear or audience participation pieces. While engaging, it did not entirely come together as a whole.

Also Very good acting, but parts of this piece moved quickly, which, combined with a lot of different accents, made it hard catch everything being said. Although the set design was simple, it was used to quite good effect. The title comes from the notion that everyone is continually creating a map of their own life. Thus, everyone is a cartographer. The audience participation part, which is optional, was an interesting aspect of this piece. It depicted, via a projection of a map of the world that was continually being adjusted as new data was added in real time, where members of the audience and their ancestors came from and, fascinatingly, they came from all over the world.... Read more Read less

See it if A novel way to raise the discussion on immigration. If you want an opening for viewers of all ages to engage. Every child in the audience

Don't see it if Feel you only want to see traditional narrative performances.

Also Stood and gave a standing ovation.

See it if you enjoy an inventive production about current issues like migration, refugees and what home means to displaced people.

Don't see it if if you only want light, fluffy entertainment and don't care about one of the world's greatest issues.

See it if You like invention in the theatre and appreciate new ways to tell stories.

Don't see it if You want a linear dramatically satisfying experience,

See it if You are interested in character studies of young immigrants, told with humor, passion and emotion. You like sparse but creative sets.

Don't see it if You have strong negative feelings about current immigrants and aren’t open to rethinking your views.