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Home Programs Pacifica Performance Showcase 1-10-09 Pacifica Performance Showcase, Ellen Geer's "Searching for the American Dream"

1-10-09 Pacifica Performance Showcase, Ellen Geer's "Searching for the American Dream"

Friday, 09 January 2009 12:01 Donna Walker Pacifica Performance Showcase
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Today, we feature Ellen Geer’s “Searching for the American Dream,” another in her series of “Americana” Plays, which carries forth her father, Will Geer’s activist legacy.  Ellen sought to bring to audiences, young and old, the rich tapestry of our heritage through many of the historic figures past and present.  With“Searching for the American Dream” the focus is on the Labor movement.   What began, for Ellen, with rallies, boycotts, and Union halls, evolved into a need to pass on the history of that Movement to future generations through dramatizing the struggle for workers rights and presenting it in the schools.  Today, amidst corporate bailouts, we face the worst economic crisis since the 1930’s.  The Labor Department reports monthly job losses of over a half-million, with increasing home foreclosures and continued volatility in the stock market.  The Union mission of solidarity is more relevant than ever.  With renewed efforts to create jobs, retain fair wages and benefits, and maintain pension funds amidst sinking 401Ks, depleted food banks and a widening gap between rich and poor.   Everything old seems new again –  To paraphrase the old song, “Buddy, can you spare a billion?”  “Searching for the American Dream” stars Ellen Geer, Melora Marshall, Earnestine Phillips, Ted Barton, and Peter Alsop, each playing a variety of characters.