Current Trends in Arab-American Performance

Abstract

The history of the American nation is more deeply involved with the dynamics of immigration and exile than that of any other major modem nation. Founded by European exiles, it was profoundly altered by the waves of newcomers that arrived on its shores between 1850 and 1930. The effect of this new exile community was especially strongly felt in the major cities, to the extent that historian Alan Brinkley reports that in 1890 between 80 and 90 percent of the population of New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit were immigrants. In contrast, London, the largest industrial city in Europe, was 94 percent native.1 Since large urban centers are traditionally the sites of theatrical activity, it is hardly surprising that these same cities saw a flourishing of theatre among their exile communities during the late nineteenth century, helping the new immigrants to adjust to their changed circumstances and often at the same time providing a connection to their roots and traditions.