Glimpse of the Great Land

Macalister Arendt advertises the upcoming performance of “Glimpse of the Great Land” on her back

Spring Street Middle School invites you to attend their performance of
Glimpse of the Great Land

A play for 23 voices, student written and performed

Created from the names of real 19th century children who passed through Ellis Island alone.

San Juan Community Theatre, Tuesday June 4th, 7:00 p.m.

Before Ellis Island opened, eight million immigrants arriving in New York were processed at Castle Island between 1855 and 1890. Thousands of these were children who traveled alone. Their names appear on the ships’ manifests, along with the date, their country of origin, and the port from which they departed. No further record of them is known.

All of the words in this play were written by us, the 5th, 6th, and 7th graders who walked a mile in our character’s shoes. Each of us has taken one of their names. We have spent the school year researching their contexts and writing their diaries.

This play is an hour and twenty minutes in length. There is no intermission.

The children portrayed and their players:

• Gabriella Luppicci, played and written by Genesee Davis
• Fritz Jaeger, played and written by Jacob Kaden
• Sabine Eberhart, played and written by Marcella Kirkland
• Aidan O’Donnell, played and written by Cole Hamilton
• Ernst Dreschler, played and written by Lucas Gao
• Kirsten Hoffman, played and written by Lydia Downs
• Domenico Bianchi, played and written by Aiken Durham Guckian
• Mirele Lieberman, played and written by Addi Kessler
• Anton Brandt, played and written by Zach Fincher
• Kathleen Nolan, played and written by Caroline Bryant
• Lothar Brauer, played and written by Silas Holden
• Salvatore Mattarazzo, played and written by Brian Fleming
• Kai Jacob Baer, played and written by Matthew McElrath
• Katya Babashinsky, played and written by Stella McCauley
• Bridget Gallagher, played and written by Vida Wight
• Itzhak Altbauer, played and written by Quinn Lacrampe
• Teodora Palmintero, played and written by Ren Di Bona
• Herschel Abramavitz, played and written by Erich Atwell
• Mary Fitzgerald, played and written by Riley Mulcahy
• Mendel Nussbaum, played and written by Diego Anderson
• Vincenzo Colombari, played and written by Skyler Reynolds
• Hamel Zegbeim, played and written by Frank Mulcahy
• Gabby Kastner, played and written by Macalister Arendt

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