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Initiatives
Borderlands
Performance in the Borderlands: 2007–2008
This project features lectures, workshops, screenings, performances and public discussions with artists, critics, scholars and community members about the history, current state and future of performing arts in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands region and beyond. Events are free unless noted.
Lunchtime Lecture Series
This series offers unique opportunities for engaging in intimate conversations with some of the most important performance scholars and artists working in Mexico and United States. Patrons are welcome to bring a lunch during the various lectures.
- Nov. 12, noon | Notes from a Border Zone: Theatrical Facilitations with Bosnian | Youth Fiesta Room, Memorial Union, ASU Tempe campus | Brown Bag Lecture with Sonja Kuftinec (Professor, University of Minnesota)
- April 7, noon | Arts and Resistance Under Pinochet | Coor L1–10, ASU Tempe campus | Brown Bag Lecture with Joanne Pottlitzer, playwright, theater director, translator, educator, and winner of two Obie awards
Productions/Presentations
- Oct. 25, 26, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27, 2 p.m. | Black Butterfly, Jaguar Girl, Piñata Woman and Other Superhero Girls Like Me | Lyceum Theatre, ASU Tempe campus | Through a mix of poems, monologues, music and dramatic scenes, “Black Butterfly…” explores growing up Latina in the inner city. The play follows five girls from the 7th grade through high school. Their journeys begin with a writing assignment. Through ongoing journal entries, audiences experience their triumphs and pitfalls. The play was adapted from the writings of three Los Angeles poets, in collaboration with playwright Luis Alfaro and original director Lisa Peterson.
- Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. | Monica Palacios Solo Performance: Greetings from a Queer Señorita! | Galvin Playhouse, ASU Tempe campus | For 25 years, Monica Palacios has been at the forefront of queer Latina/o writing and performing. This Los Angeles–based Chicana writer/performer is the creator of several one–woman shows: The OH! Show; Get Your Feet Wet; Queer Soul; A 20 year retrospective; Besame Mucho; Latin Lezbo Comic; and Greetings from a Queer Señorita; these have been seen across the country and Off–Broadway.
- Nov. 14, 5:30 p.m. | Gira de Chau Señor Miedo | Nelson Fine Arts Center 133, ASU Tempe campus | From Argentina, this play for young audiences was written by María Inés Falconi, and adapted by Isaías López (17 years old) and Mía Pierina Brembilla (8 years old). It tells the story of Lucas and Mili, two brothers who are trying to sleep, but their fears rise up as night falls. By presenting a common thing among young people, the play helps them to deal with their own fears, and especially, to lose their fear of the dark.
- Dec. 17, 7p.m. | The Phoenix Pastorela | Galvin Playhouse Tempe campus | An old tradition, updated and made local. Join the shepherds, dog and sheep in their perilous march to Belen to witness the birth of the Baby Jesus. As they pass through the wilds of Arizona they will encounter scary (but whacky) racially– profiling Devils who will snare them with all kinds of gadgets and “laws,” and glorious Archangels who will save them at the last minute with flaming swords and beautiful songs. Sweet Christmas carols sung in English and Spanish accompanied by Gertie and the T.O. Boyz Waila Band! Pinatas for the little ones every show!
Productions/Presentations
- Feb. 22–23 & Feb. 28–March 1, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 24 & March 2, 2 p.m. | Dark play or stories for boys by Carlos Murillo | Lyceum Theatre, ASU Tempe campus | Join playwright Carlos Murillo for an audience forum following the opening night performance on Feb. 22 A teenage boy's fictional Internet identity begins as a harmless game. But the game takes on a frightening reality when it's overwhelmed by real emotion. When the virtual world and the real one collide, Nick's fantasies of love, intimacy, obsession and betrayal spiral out of control, leading him to the brink of death.
- March 28–29 & April 3–5, 7:30 p.m. ; March 30 & April 6, 2 p.m. | Triangle by Laurie Brooks | A new play commissioned by the School of Theatre & Film Lyceum Theatre, ASU Tempe campus | This compelling drama links a girl who toiled and ultimately died in an infamous garment district sweatshop fire 100 years ago to a contemporary Mexican immigrant who is struggling to find meaning in her own life. As the dead girl unfurls her tale of sweatshop drudgery, dreams lost and struggle for survival, immigrant experiences from then and now are contrasted and compared.
- April 4–5, 7:30 p.m. | enterrada / buried in the body of remembrance | A multi–media performance by Secos & Mojados co–presented with the School of Art Plaza/Amphitheatre between the ASU Art Museum and the Galvin Playhouse, ASU Tempe campus Additionally there will be a brown bag talk with members of Secos & Mojados on April 4 at noon in Coor 184
Stories of immigrants, refugees and people compelled to leave their homelands for various social, political and economic reasons are illuminated by the San Francisco group “Secos y Mojados” in a powerful, multi–media theatrical experience. Performers are all immigrant–artists, urging Americans to rethink the prevalent stereotypical images of immigrants from around the world in our society. Sponsored by the School of Theatre and Film Performance in the Borderlands Project and the School of Art.
Secos y Mojados. Members include Violeta Luna, Mexican actress and performance artist; Víctor Cartagena, visual artist and video maker from El Salvador; David Molina, an Angelino–Salvadorean, musician and composer; Antigone Trimis, collaborator and production coordinator from Greece; and Argentinean theater director Roberto Varea.
For more information on the Performance in the Borderlands project, contact:
Tamara Underiner | School of Theatre and Film | Arizona State University | PO Box 872002 | Tempe, AZ 85287-2002 | 480.965.7323 | 480.965.5351 fax | Tamara.Underiner@asu.edu