Borderlands Theater new play “Nogales” in September

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NOGALES: STORYTELLERS IN CARTEL COUNTRY

In collaboration with Campo Santo and Magic Theatre

Written by Richard Montoya

Directed by Sean San Jose

September 7 – September 25
Cabaret Theater, Temple of Music and Art

“Richard Montoya (American Night, Water & Power) of the acclaimed Chicano performance troupe Culture Clash (Bowl of Beans, Chavez Ravine) and ensemble members from San Francisco’s Campo Santo collaborate with Borderlands artists in season opener. Nogales: Storytellers in Cartel Country uses original and researched text, created video and short film, set against scenic art installations. At it’s core is the tragic & true story of a Nogales boy, shot in the back 15 times by a U.S. Border patrol officer. Documentation morphs into hybrid performance as Nogales: Storytellers in Cartel Country traces the bullets beyond headlines, borders and politics to explore the true lives and real people from the dangerous shadowlands to the powerful circle of an infamous sheriff.

California artists Montoya, Sean San Jose, and filmographer Joan Osato traveled to Phoenix and on through to Nogales Mexico to immerse themselves in the border region. The play is the product of conversations with the people they met as they traversed the border landscape. Tucson may recognize a few locals as characters in the play like former TPAC executive director Roberto Bedoya, and Kat Rodriguez from the Colibri Center for human rights.

The play is a meditation of place, crossing over, crossing borders, bullets crossing and lives crossing. A journey into border culture, grappling with the flux of immigration and migration as tensions rise under anti-immigration sentiments responsible for the militarization of the border.

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