Current & Universal Theme—
The Immigrant Experience

Immigration is intrinsic to the human experience. Urban or rural, LA today or Minnesota and Dakota Territory in 1873, on every continent, immigrants face a common struggle.

In each immigrant family, someone is focused forward, full of hope for the future, while someone else cannot stop thinking of what they are leaving, what they are losing. This is the tension that tears at the lead characters of our musical, Peder and Beret Hansen. They are not protagonist and antagonist, but co-protagonists devoted to each other as their divergent perceptions strain their relationship. This is the lived experience of immigrants.

Every story is about much more than its particular story line and setting. Immigrants’ Kingdom: Giants in the Earth presents Norwegian settlers in Minnesota and Dakota Territory in 1873. It also explores the struggle of today’s immigrants, whether from Nigeria, Nicaragua or Norway.