El Taller A.C. (The Workshop, non-profit) Puebla, Mexico-based social justice theatre organization, is literally crossing borders to bring the message that borders affect people on both sides, albeit in very different ways through their tour Women Opening Borders: A Journey in Equity, Culture and Art.
The troupe members””six Mexican citizens and one US citizen will present two actor-written and -directed plays. El Taller A.C. challenges audience members to resolve a myriad of forms of violence that most directly affect women: the challenges faced by migrant women, sexual harassment at work, domestic violence, and prejudice due to sexual orientation. The primary focus of the tour is a show about a single mother who is compelled to migrate to the US in order to provide better for her children who stay behind in Mexico. The piece is entitled Camino de Esperanza / Esperanza”'s Passage and uses Brazilian Augusto Boal”'s (1931-2010) methodology, Theatre of the Oppressed: Forum Theatre, which invites audience members to step into the shoes of one of the characters in order to change the final outcome of the play.
The other piece, Mujer no se escribe con M de Macho / You Don”'t Spell Woman with the Same ”˜M”' in Macho is an upbeat one-woman farce divided into three monologues.
The troupe shows us our commonalities in spite of our differences, and helps us build bridges of understanding across the chasms of prejudice which have been widened by political forces on both sides of the US/Mexico border, and the more subtle manifestations of violence against women created by discrimination and tradition.
Free Will Offering.
