Life can be difficult for a child, especially when their parent’s work requires them to resettle every few years. Elizabeth Liang is intimately familiar with these struggles. As a self-described “global nomad,” she spent her childhood hopping from culture to culture.
Born in Guatemala, she moved to Connecticut when her father’s job at Xerox required him to relocate. There, Elizabeth began improving her English but lost her mother tongue, Spanish. She found herself unable to express herself in either language. These issues and others impacted her life as she moved back to Central America and then North Africa, leading to some intriguing experiences.
Using minimalist set dressing and some multimedia elements, Elizabeth tells us her life story. Her experience as a multiracial Third Culture Kid (TCK) presents both a captivating story and an interesting case study into the mind of a person who was raised in six different countries and five languages.
Elizabeth Liang’s one-woman show is a must-see for fans of the genre. Alien Citizen delves deep into Elizabeth’s childhood, delivering every sensation and emotion she can convey as we trace her personal history. The love of family in Guatemala, the lush beaches of Panama, the unforgiving Moroccan desert, and the busy streets of Egypt unfold before us as Elizabeth seems to relive some of her strongest memories.
Travel lovers will enjoy the cultural perspective shared in Alien Citizen, while others will enjoy the stagecraft or feminist perspective. Professors of acting may be interested in this title for its experimental elements. Alien Citizen combines compelling storytelling with thought-provoking insights into the complexities of identity and belonging. The documentary offers a rich and enlightening theatrical experience. Highly Recommended. Editor’s Choice.
Where does this title belong on public library shelves?
Alien Citizen belongs on theater and biography shelves.
What type of film series could use this title?
Any series on one-person shows would benefit from the addition of Alien Citizen.
Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey is the award-winning film of Elizabeth Liang's funny, sharp, and poignant one-woman show about growing up in the intersections of identity as a dual citizen of mixed heritage in Central America, North Africa, the Middle East, and New England.
About the Film
Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey offers a rare glimpse into the life of a nomadic, cross-cultural kid and the powerful effect, both positive and negative, that life has on the adult the child becomes. It’s the only film to address the intersections of identity in terms of nationality, language, gender, race, culture, religion, class, and global mobility in a single person and performance. Elizabeth deals with the decisions every global nomad has to make repeatedly: to adapt or to simply cope; to build a bridge or to just tolerate. Where is the line between respecting others and betraying yourself? Humor is a good coping mechanism, and the show ultimately honors Elizabeth’s unusual upbringing and the intersections of her identity.
The film won the Outstanding Achievement Award in Performing Arts at the Calcutta Independent Cult Film Festival (CICFF) in 2018. It was an Official Selection of the Mixed Asian Media (MAM) Fest in 2021. Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey (the movie) had its world premiere at the SIETAR USA conference in San Diego, California, in October 2017.
College instructors are screening the film for students in Anthropology, Communications, Ethnic Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Gender & Women’s Studies, and Theatre departments at universities in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Diversity & Inclusion, International Student Offices, Critical Mixed Race Studies, and student clubs are also using it.
The story is relatable for countless people who rarely or never see a story like theirs on stage or screen. (Just a few examples include multiracial/multiethnic people, children of immigrants, transnationally adopted people, borderlanders, and countless others.) The production team has been told that the movie has special worth in our frightening, wondrous, fragile world today.
About the Live Show
The stage production had its world premiere at the Asylum Lab in Hollywood, California, in May 2013. The live show toured around the United States and to Panama, Iceland, Spain, South Africa, and Singapore, edu-taining audiences at theatres, Off Off Broadway, the college circuit, festivals, conferences, international schools, and the US Embassy.
Director's Statement
I suppose my journey with Elizabeth “Lisa” began many years ago when we and a few trusted pals were getting together to write one-person monologues and plays and for her what would eventually lead to what is now Alien Citizen. I was never brave enough to make the voyage, but she persevered. Readings in her living room, a Hollywood theatre premiere, and an international stage tour in six countries and 14 US states all led to this film. Lisa has cut herself wide open to share this most precious gift, her life and the experiences that have led her to become the talented and brave soul you see on the screen. It’s easy to dismiss her experiences as specific to those who are minorities, or those of mixed heritage/race, or those who migrated globally as kids; however, that would be missing the really, really big picture, for hers is the tale of us all. If you have ever found yourself not fitting in any given place, at any given moment, then yep, you can relate. I’m honored to have seen the earliest incarnations, and to have been asked to direct both the solo show and the film, well, that’s just a gift unto itself. - Sofie Calderon
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Scene from Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods
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Alien Citizen, ©️HapaLis Prods