Directed by Arturo Martinez (English format) and Luis Avila (Spanish format)
“Dream Act” tells the story of undocumented student Victoria Nava, brought to the United States by her parents as a toddler. In the face of anti-immigrant sentiment, she feels her dreams of medical school may be slipping away.
Each performance will be followed by a short talkback with the playwright and experts on The DREAM Act, a proposed federal law that would provide a path to citizenship for the more than 60,000 undocumented youth who graduate from high school in the United States each year.
Show runs January 15-17, 2010.
This show is being presented in both English- and Spanish-language formats.
Locations Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix (UUCP)
4027 E Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley [ Map ]
First Congregational United Church of Christ
1407 N 2nd St, Phoenix [ Map ]
English-Language Performances - Friday, January 15 at 8 p.m. – Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix
- Saturday, January 16 at 2 p.m. – First Congregational United Church of Christ
- Sunday, January 17 at 2 p.m. – Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix
Spanish-Language Performances - Saturday, January 16 at 8 p.m. – First Congregational United Church of Christ - Sunday, January 17 at 8 p.m. – First Congregational United Church of Christ
Seating is general admission, tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. A limited number of discounted tickets available at showup.com.
James E. Garcia’s “Dream Act” had its world premiere April 11, 2008 at Playhouse on the Park in Phoenix, Arizona. The show was incredibly well received and reviewed. At the time of the original production, our web site was not being managed by a content management system, and unfortunately much of our media history was lost. Existing media reviews may be found below in the “Dream Act” in the Media section.
The narrative of “Dream Act” was inspired by the March 21, 2008 episode of Chicago Public Radio program This American Life. In Act Four (at approximate run time 46:35), reporter Douglas McGray interviews a college student in California. Quoting the This American Life web site: “Reporter Douglas McGray interviews a college student in California with good grades, an excellent work ethic, but no possible way to get a legal job. She’s lived in the U.S. since she was little, but her parents are undocumented; and she is, too. Most of her friends and teachers don’t even know. Douglas McGray is a fellow at the New America Foundation.”
McGray went on to explain, “You might also be interested in a much longer piece I wrote about Martha and a couple other students; I wrote the radio feature for ‘This American Life’ as a follow up, and an experiment in telling a story across different media. The print piece, a cover story for the LA Times sunday magazine, got a lot of attention when it came out.”
Additional excerpts from “Dream Act” were performed by the original cast in April and May 2008 at several venues across the Phoenix-metro area, including The Community Advocacy Symposium in downtown Phoenix.
Shortly after the play closed, there was such demand that the original cast was brought back together on May 3, 2008 at La Buena Onda Radio Studio in Phoenix to record a full-length radio play of the production (in both English and Spanish versions). Charles Dee Rice, the show’s original audio designer, mixed the radio performances with a combination of original sound effects and a handful of new musical selections (to satisfy royalty and licensing restrictions), producing full length radio shows for broadcast in both English and Spanish.
The Spanish-language radio play aired June 26, 2008 on KNUV 1190AM in Phoenix as part of of an Arizona Dream Fund scholarship fundraiser / radioathon.
In July, 2008, The Center for Community Development and Civil Rights funded a full video recording/production of “Dream Act,” using the original theatrical cast.
Continued interest in the live performances and the issues surrounding DREAM Act legislation have brought the show back into the public eye again — this time for another full stage performance in January, 2010.
Note: If you are associated with a radio station interested in broadcasting either version of the “Dream Act” radio play, please contact us.
“Dream Act” in the Media
Saturday, January 16 at 8:50am Dream Act will be featured (including promotional photos) on the showup.com segment of Good Morning Arizona KTVK 3TV – Cox channel 3, Mediacom channel 3
There are many resources available online to research The DREAM Act. What follows is not meant to be a comprehensive or exhaustive reference, but may provide a good starting point for additional research on this issue:
Tickets for this show will be available at the door for $16, general admission, $12 for all students with i.d. and $8 for children 12 and under.
A limited number of advanced discounted tickets may be purchased here.
Tickets are $12 for groups of 8 or more in advance or at the door. We recommend you make reservations in advance.
Group rates available by contacting us at info@newcarpa.org or 623-25-CARPA (623-252-2772).
American Pastorela: The Saga of Sheriff Joe will be presented at 1202 N. Third Street (two blocks south of Interstate 10 at the corner of Moreland and Third Street near downtown Phoenix) . [ Map ]
Showtimes December 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and December 6, 12 and 13 at 2 p.m.
Sheriff Joe has a heart attack and dies. Turns out his personal physician is the same guy who was “treating” Michael Jackson before the pop star’s early demise. Satan offers to cut Joe a deal — his life in exchange for stopping the Hernandez family from making their annual trek by foot from Sonora to Phoenix to catch the light rail to Bethlehem (it also stops in Vegas now). Comedy ensues. Show intended for general audiences.
Note to Sheriff Joe: Please don’t beat me up for writing this play. – JG
American Pastorela: The Saga of Sheriff Joe In the Press
This is a free performance.
Please note that seating is limited.
The Hispanic Heritage Committee at Arizona State University presents
A Boy Named Cesar
Cesar Chavez
A one-act play written by James E. Garcia and Julie Amparano
Directed by Terry Earp
September 15, 2009
Reception at 6:00pm In La Sala
Performance at 7:00pm Second Stage West
Arizona State University, 4701 W. Thunderbird Road , Phoenix , AZ [ Map ]
About the show: The nation is mired in the Great Depression and 10-year-old Cesar Chavez
and his family have learned they’re being evicted from their Yuma farm. In the days before
they depart, Cesar goes to fetch water from the backyard well when the ghost of his grandfather
reveal the promise of his future as one of the nation’s great civil rights leaders.
Reception and Performance are free to students, faculty and the community. The performance will last approximately one hour.
Donation to the Non-perishable Food Drive requested.
This show has been held over for an additional weekend — August 21-23
Don’t miss it!
A world premiere production
This show is appropriate for general audiences.
When: Aug. 14-16, 2009 (Evening performances Fri., Sat. &
Sun. at 7:30. Matinees on Sat. and Sun. at 2:30 p.m.)
Held over an additional weekend: Aug. 21-23, 2009 (Friday and Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. & Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.)
Where: Playhouse on the Park, 1850 N. Central Ave. [ See Map ]
(In the Viad Bldg. at Palm and Central Ave.) Free parking.
This show is produced by New Carpa Theater Co. (newcarpa.org) as a special fund-raiserfor the Macehualli Capital Campaign organized by theTonatierra Community Development Instituteto preserve and develop the Macehualli Community Campus Facility in Phoenix
Tickets $20 general admission and $10 for students. (You also may donate as much as you wish.) To buy tickets for these performances or to contribute to the Macehualli Capital Campaign, visit centromacehualli.org.
THE PLAY: Regino Ortega, an undocumented immigrant, has been living in the United States for 21 years when he’s arrested by ICE agents and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputies. His three young children are left behind and forced to fend for themselves. “The Tears of Lives” is a drama torn from today’s headlines that recounts the tragedy of families ripped apart as a consequence of the nation’s latest, wide-scale crackdown on immigrants.
