Consciousness Raising Theater from Mexico

“La Casa Rosa” tells the story of the necessity and difficulty of finding a way forward for every community impacted by free trade and migration. Drawing inspiration from the real lives and experiences of a group of women from the town of Tetlanohcan, Mexico, the play is the tale of two sisters struggling for control of their ancestral land and for the realization of their very distinct definitions of development and visions for the future of their world. How do we protect what matters? How do we address a system that seems intent on limiting our options? How do we find common ground and a better quality of life?

PRESS RELEASE

March, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE contact: iipsoculta@yahoo.com

U.S. TOUR OF MEXICAN THEATER COMPANY

—Thirty Taxcalan women await visas granting them the unique opportunity to tour the country in a play that tackles the very issues faced in their every-day lives—

New York, NY (March, 2010)— In an effort to generate awareness of the true nature of the struggle of communities affected by US migration, The Migrant Family Support Center (CAFAMI) of San Francisco Tetlanohcan — a rural community in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico — in partnership with New York City-based theater company Carlton Industries, today announced the anticipated schedule for it’s Spring 2010 Families without Borders Tour of the original play “La Casa Rosa,” a story of the search for the way forward for a group of Mexican women as the impact of free trade and migration to the United States descends on their community.

The fate of the tour hinges upon final approval of the visa applications currently in review for the 30 Taxcalan women who make up the Soame Citlalime performance troupe of the Families without Borders Tour. The troupe was created as a means to build awareness of the affects of migration on their local community and to provide its members with a direct action against the system that they would have otherwise felt powerless to take on.

Drawing inspiration from the real lives and experiences the women of Tetlanohcan, “La Casa Rosa” conveys their collective testimonies through a single tale of two sisters struggling for control of their ancestral land and for the realization of their very distinct and conflicting definitions of development and progress. How do we move forward when life is determined to push us back? How do we protect what matters in a system that seems intent on limiting our options? How do we find common ground in a world desperate to keep us apart?

The play was written by Daniel Carlton, who created it with the women through an exploratory process of improvisation. The project was developed in partnership with the Institute for Social and Cultural Practice and Research (IIPSOCULTA), which had for years sought to create an original script addressing these issues.

“Telling our personal stories is our most basic human instinct and our most basic human right,’ said Carlton. “Unfortunately, it’s a withered instinct and a hindered right as we are encouraged to sit passively back as receptacles for the consumption of corporate entertainment. In this project we take a small step forward in reclaiming that right and reinvigorating that instinct.”

IIPSOCULTA is a Mexico-based non-profit organization founded by community-activist Marco Castillo in 2001 in an effort to establish equity and justice for Latin Americans through education, organizing, and solidarity work. Castillo also established IIPSOCULTA U.S. in New Haven, Connecticut, which works under the same mission and provides training and support for immigrants working and living in the United States.

“ Another core objective of this organization is really to bring to light the fact that Latin Americans coming to the states are capable of more than just manual labor,” said Castillo. “These people have artistic talents, ideas and creative capabilities that should introduce them to other industries as well, but the stereotype of a Mexican immigrant is so strong here in the States, that seeing these individuals as anything more than labor workers seems like a distant notion…”

For more information and a detailed season performance schedule for “La Casa Rosa,” please see schedule below. To learn more about IIPSOCULTA, its mission, and its numerous community inititatives, please visit www.iipsocultaus.wordpress.com.