Written by James E. Garcia
Directed by Arturo Martinez (English 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.
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 ONE NIGHT ONLY – Feburary 3, 2010 at 7:15pm.
For this production, only the English-format version will be performed.
NOTE: The original address posted for this event was incorrect. The correct address is listed below.
Location
Catalina Elementary School
6331 N 39th, Phoenix [ Map ]
This performance is FREE!
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History of the theater show “Dream Act”
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
Play Highlights the Plight of Undocumented College-Hopefuls
by Alison Miller, College Times
2008 Theater Performance Review:
James Garcia’s Dream Act Puts the Spotlight on the Obstacles Immigrant Children Face in the Fight for Citizenship
by Marcos Najera, Phoenix New Times
2008 Theater Performance Review:
Sueños en Acción
English Translation via Google translate: Dreams In Motion
by Eduardo Bernal, La Voz / AZ Central
2008 Theater Performance Review:
Member Reviews
showup.com (Ticket vendor)
The DREAM Act Legislation
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:
Dream Activist – Undocumented Students Action and Resource Network
DREAM Act Portal
DREAM Act – defined (wikipedia)
Act On A Dream Rally
Related News
Return to Sender: The Feds, Fueled by Local Anti-Immigration Hostility, Are Draining Talented Undocumented Youth Into Mexico
by Malia Politzer, Phoenix New Times
Trail of Dreams: Undocumented Students March from Miami to DC
by Juliana Schnur, Sojourners
Image provided by Arizona Women's Theatre Company
Written by Julie Amparano
Directed by Pamela Sterling
You think your family is crazy… What about Mary’s? Her husband Miguel sees no reason for staying sober; her daughter Rachel is a muppie (Mexican-American yuppie) doctor who can’t be in the same room with her sister Annette, a super-Chicana channeling Frida Kahlo; and son Mike is worried whether coming out of the closet will kill his mother outright. All Mary wants is for everyone to get along… so she can join the family of ghosts in the living room.
“A Mother’s Will” was nominated for AriZoni Award Best Original Script in 2007 and was a Pandora Festival of New Plays Selection in 2009.
Show runs March 5-14, 2010 (Total of six performances)
Playhouse on the Park, 1850 N. Central Ave. [ Map ]
(In the Viad Bldg. at Palm and Central Ave.)
Free parking — Just off the Phoenix Light Rail line.
Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 2pm
Tickets on sale at the Phoenix Theatre online ticketing center.
General Admission – $18 ($12 for students with valid ID).
A limited number of discounted tickets are available at showup.com.
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