Newcomer Author:Janet Thomas Here is a contemporary play, simple yet impressive, familiar yet exotic, about Mai Li, a young refugee girl, a recent American immigrant from Southeast Asia. Audiences and critics have thronged to the numerous productions accorded this play by major American theatres. Set in the present. Cast: 2 M, 3 F. — Mai Li, a refugee student from Southeast ... more »Asia, is plunged into the boisterous contemporary American high school atmosphere, from which she is alienated by language and custom. Benny, an all-American, hip high school hero, who happens to be Chinese, is asked to communicate with her. Unwilling to face ridicule from his peers, he refuses, plunging both himself and Mai Li into painfull realizations about their individual needs for acceptance and community. From the perspective of a -newcomer,- whose silence reflects the unspoken needs of all, here is a theatrical look at some of the intricacies of a multi-ethnic culture.« less