American Dream

Play humanizes the plight of undocumented residents

Comments (0) By Robrt L. Pela Thursday, Apr 17 2008

James Garcia’s new one-act couldn’t be more timely. Dream Act, a co-production of Colores Actors-Writers Workshop and ASU Gammage, tells the story of grad student Victoria Nava, who came to America from Mexico as a baby with her parents. Because her folks crossed the border illegally, Nava is an undocumented resident, and she fears that her dream of practicing medicine in the United States, where she was raised, may be dashed in the face of growing anti-immigrant sentiment. Garcia’s short play personalizes an issue we’ve all become inured to, especially in the Southwest, where immigration laws are a daily source of headlines. The playwright considers the plight of undocumented Mexican-Americans for whom the U.S. is the only country they’ve known. For Nava, America is “home.”

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The play will be presented in both English (at 7:30) and Spanish (at 9) in individual performances each evening. (Full disclosure: New Timesstaff member Julie Peterson performs a role in the English version.)

Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 & 9 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 2 & 3:30 p.m. Starts: April 11. Continues through April 20, 2008