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What does it mean to be an American?

Posted by DCA Theater on September 20, 2011 in July-December 2011 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Halcyon Theatre

Submitted by Jessica Kadish, ensemble member for The Americans with Halcyon Theatre

What does it mean to be an American?

The summer after my first year of college, I had a co-worker who had emigrated to the U.S. from Ghana. We often were stuck working the Saturday evening shift together, so we talked a lot to ease the boredom, and never was our conversation more heated than when we got onto the topic of the United States.  “Schoolchildren in Ghana learn about your political history and geography beginning at a very young age,” she pointed out to me. “But frankly, it doesn’t seem like you learn very much about anyone else besides yourselves.”  I admitted she had a point, and started studying maps of Africa as soon as I got home that night.

Since we’ve started rehearsing The Americans, I’ve begun taking out the atlas regularly again.

What does it mean to be an American?

When I studied at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, a question I received frequently from friends was “¿Extrañas a tu país? – Do you miss your country?” It took me awhile to get used to this wording; I’d never thought about the U.S. in such decidedly possessive terms before. I missed my family and friends, certainly, but the country – did I miss it? I wasn’t sure.  And was it mine? Of that I was even less sure.

In rehearsal for The Americans, this particular question has hit all of us in different ways. Some of us feel that the U.S. is our country, some don’t, and we all have a lot to say about it.

What does it mean to be an American?

One of the first questions that generally come up in conversation when I meet a fellow Spanish-speaker is “¿De dónde eres? – Where are you from?” My answer is always “Soy de aquí – I’m from here.” (This is also generally understood as “I’m white,” but that’s for another conversation.) Saying it over and over again adds to the conversation in my head – I’m from here, and I’m here right now, so this is doubly my country, and I’d better keep figuring out what that means.

Thankfully, working on The Americans, I’m spending a lot of time in the company of people who are working on figuring out the same thing.

What does it mean to be an American?

We’re still not sure, of course. This country is constantly changing, and so are we, so even if we do manage to pin down some answers, they’ll probably change tomorrow. But between our own voices and the voices of the people we’ve spoken to on the street, we’ve found all kinds of ideas relevant to the here-and-now that have surprised, challenged and inspired us.  Everyone’s got American identity on the brain this month, it seems, given the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. So we suspect you may have been thinking about some of these questions yourself…and we can’t wait to hear you voice your own ideas at the performance!