One family’s story of migration, self-discovery, and vulnerability unfolds through two cross-country road trips two decades apart in the world premiere of Young Americans at Pittsburgh Public Theater. The heartfelt and clear-eyed production directed by Desdemona Chiang arrives in Pittsburgh through a partnership with Portland Center Stage, where the play opened earlier this year.
Middle-aged dad Joe (Danny Bernardo) surprises his daughter Lucy (Sammy Rat Rios) upon her return from a junior year abroad in the play’s first scene. She thought they had agreed he would pick her up from the airport, but as Joe gleefully informs her after appearing at Dulles instead of Portland International, they never agreed on which one. With little explanation, Joe announces he’s canceled her connecting flight in order to take her on a cross-country road trip the rest of the way home. Lucy is, understandably, less than thrilled.
Early on in the trek, both Lucy and the audience discover that Joe has driven this route before, 20 years prior, with Lucy’s mom, Jenny (Marielle Young), upon her arrival in the U.S. from their shared country of origin. The play, skillfully written by Lauren Yee, doesn’t specify which country that is, even as the story vaults back and forth between the two road trips, focusing on the circumstances that led Joe and Jenny to leave their first homes, how they approach the task of making a new home in America, and how their respective immigration stories have shaped their adopted daughter’s sense of self and belonging.
Most of the play takes place in Joe’s trusty car, rendered in skeleton form as part of Junghyun Georgia Lee’s minimalist yet evocative scenic design, and mounted on a turntable that simulates the movement of the car by continually rotating roughly 90 degrees left and right — a choice that’s likely effective to the extent that you don’t focus on it too much. Behind the car, the vast sky over the open road, lit in gorgeous color by Solomon Weisbard, meets a rough, rocky horizon line. Andre Pluess’s sound design punctuates the transitions from scene to scene with pop music that starts in the theater sound system and ends up playing through the car speakers.
Ebullient, stubborn, and often playful, Danny Bernardo, as Joe, is the common denominator in both road trips. Bernardo seamlessly transitions between timelines by making minor adjustments to his attire (costumes by Susan Tsu) that belie major shifts in his demeanor and speech as Rat Rios and Young take turns playing off of him. His dad-ness, often a source of the play’s biggest laughs, encompasses many of the particularities of being an immigrant dad, but he’s also an every-dad, bound to strike a universal chord.
Sammy Rat Rios and Marielle Young provide dynamic moments of contrast. When Joe’s desire to be in control veers into something more domineering, they check him, successfully asserting their own needs and desires. This is one of those rare stories where every character gets to grow.
Continues through Sun., May 14. Pittsburgh Public Theater. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $32-$80. ppt.org
