Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

264 Chapter 10 Global Theatre Today
Photo Essay: Theatre in the Borderlands
1. In a public assembly room in the city
center, the audience gathers, sitting on
folding chairs that surround the acting
area. A handful of lights illuminate the
hand-painted setting. © Robert Cohen
2. In the performance, “Little Brother”
(Bryant Ranier Enriquez, standing) thinks
he sees a ghost in his bedroom, as “Big
Brother” (Rafael E. Martinez) rolls over in
mock dismay. © Robert Cohen
1.
Not all—or even most—Latino theatre
activity in the United States is found
in America’s largest cities. The
Borderlands Theatre was founded in
Tucson, Arizona, in 1986, to provide
theatrical entertainment for the local
Mexican American population and
create interchange among members of
the Latino and Anglo communities in
the Arizona-Sonora “borderlands”—the
area that at times links and at other
times divides Mexico and the United
States.
Borderlands has no permanent
theatre and owns minimal equipment,
but it recruits plays, performers, and
directors from both countries with the
aid of National Endowment of the Arts
funding along with a body of loyal
community supporters. The pictured
production, presented in English and
Spanish versions on alternate nights,
is Mexican playwright Javier Malpica’s
Papá está en la Atlántida (Our Dad Is
in Atlantis), directed by Eva Tessler. It
was a great success for the company
in 2009, telling the heartbreaking story
of two preteen Mexican brothers—
played by adult actors Rafael E.
Martinez and Bryant Ranier Enriquez—
who, after their mother’s death, try
to walk through the Sonoran desert
to find their father, who has illegally
crossed the border to Atlanta (which
the younger brother thinks is the magical
kingdom of Atlantis).
Similar bilingual theatre companies
can be found in most cities along
America’s southern frontier—Teatro
Promoteo in Miami, Latino Teatro in
Los Angeles, the Latino Theatre Alliance
in Austin, Texas—as well as
in northern cities, including Teatro
Pregones in New York City, the Gala
Hispanic Theatre in Washington, and
the all-female Teatro Luna in Chicago.
2.