My Play Made It to NYC! Why I’m Not Going

For about 40 years, I’ve had a framed lithograph of a bustling 42nd Street in New York City hanging above my writing desk. It has followed me to at least two dozen homes in at least a dozen cities. The picture includes the marquee for The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe featuring both the star, Lily Tomlin, and the playwright, Jane Wagner. It’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a “vision board.”

I started writing plays when I was in elementary school, and my impossible dream is finally coming true. My new play, Playing Shylock, is running “off-Broadway” this fall at the Polonsky Shakespeare Centre. Closing night is Dec. 7.

My work has been produced throughout the United States, but never in the place all playwrights dream about, never in New York. I should be over the rainbow. And I should have been in New York, watching rehearsals, previews and opening night.

Instead, I’m torn between thrilled and heartbroken, because I wasn’t hiding at the back of the theatre watching the show (and the audience) on Oct. 25, opening night. I was home in Canada, waiting for a call after the show to hear how it went.

Why I didn’t feel safe to travel

When I started telling Canadian and American friends that I didn’t feel safe crossing the border, I expected them to laugh, to tell me I was being paranoid. None did.

Even people who said I had to go were adamant that I enter the United States only at a Canadian airport with pre-clearance so that if I was denied entry — and they all believed I might be — I couldn’t be held in custody for more than a few hours.

This is the same advice immigration lawyers have been giving Canadians for months. A few friends cheerfully suggested that getting hauled off by Immigration and Customs Enforcement might sell theatre tickets.

If I was getting in trouble because of the play, maybe it would be good PR.

But in this case, the play isn’t the thing that might prompt me to be plucked from the security line.

It’s a lifetime of writing about political and environmental issues and a Wikipedia bio that includes “activist” in my list of “occupations.” It’s having a monthly newsletter for the Skaana podcast that includes a section on “Trump vs. Science.”

An inspiration, and a fading light

You read the news. Do you think I should feel safe visiting the United States when such notoriously radical organizations from my country as the Girl Guides don’t?

Of course, I realize that like any other visitor to America, I could also be denied entry for having South Park in my browser history or Springsteen on my Spotify playlist.

Even if I did believe it was safe to cross the border, I’d feel slightly traitorous. I love New York. But Maui’s been my favourite place on Earth since my parents took me there when I was around nine. As an adult I went there whenever I could afford it and was lucky enough to call it home for about six years. I have very dear friends there. And when Donald Trump started in on his “51st state” musings I wrote them and said I wasn’t sure I’d ever fly over to see them again.

And it’s not like anything has become saner since then.

Also, unless I missed the memo, I don’t think Mamdani’s in charge of U.S. immigration policy?

A lifetime ago, I had a play about free speech produced at San Diego Repertory Theatre. At a post-show talkback, someone asked for my thoughts on America. I’m sure they expected me to trash-talk the U.S.A.

My answer was that as much as I love my country, I’ve always envied America’s First Amendment, the passionate commitment to free speech, the legal protections the U.S. Constitution offers journalists and all its citizens.

Today, I’m not sure any amendments will still be intact next week, other than the one that was originally about protecting the right to own muskets.

The idea of being in the United States right now just didn’t feel right. Nor did the idea of someone searching my phone or laptop when they contain contact information for — and correspondence with — everyone I’ve ever interviewed.

About 40 years ago, I saw Lily Tomlin perform The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in San Francisco and fell in love with the magic of solo shows. Someone outside the theatre was selling that lithograph with her marquee on it. The date on it is 1987. I think it cost $40.

When I got home to Vancouver, I had the piece framed.

I didn’t want to be the star. I wanted to be the playwright and create a script that could let an actor fly. I did. His name’s Saul Rubinek. In 2024 the Globe and Mail named him one of “the 25 greatest Canadian actors ever.” And he’s riveting onstage.

I thought I’d be prepared to watch him say my words any time, anywhere. But not America. Not today.

For the first time since 1987, my 42nd Street picture is in storage. And it’s staying there until it’s safe to once again dream about visiting New York.

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Can you identify the artist who created the lithograph above? The artwork has been an inspiration to the author for decades, and Mark Leiren-Young wants to know! Contact him through the information on his website. And we’re keen to hear your take on travel to the United States. Let us know in the comments.