Q. and A.: Martyna Majok, Putting Immigrant Lives on Center Stage

The New York Times: On paper, Martyna Majok looks like so many other young playwrights, with a master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama.

But Ms. Majok (pronounced MY-oak), a Polish immigrant, grew up in a gritty stretch of North Jersey, the daughter of a house cleaner. She was 17 when she first went to the theater, splurging on a ticket to “Cabaret,” at Studio 54, with $45 she’d won hustling pool.