Q. Is there such a thing as a clown visa?
A. Yes and no. Nothing labelled “clown visa” of course, but the play gets its name from Nadia’s immigration status as an Alien with extraordinary skills - a designation for skilled workers who come to the U.S. on an O-1 visa. Nadia’s visa would be an O-1B designation: “individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry”. -U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. Note that prior to 1986, employers were not required to certify the citizenship or immigration status of their employees. The I-9 form is a relatively new thing.
Q. What’s up with that taxicab?
There are clowning elements throughout the production. If you’ve seen the show, what others did you notice? Put them in the comments!
Q. Why did you choose this play?
At Theatre Unbound we have a test each potential play must pass before we add it to our season. Some of the things we consider are: Was it written by a woman? Is there a female protagonist driving the action? Does it tell a story that isn’t being told elsewhere? Is there a compelling reason to produce it now? Aliens…prompted us to ask ourselves all kinds of important questions. How do I feel that Nadia is here “illegally”? What would I do if I had been in her (real Manolo Blahnik!) shoes? Does the country of origin for the characters or the color of their skin change my perception of them? But at the same time the play brought up these issues, it kept us laughing non-stop. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!