Gather to Talk: Stories of Immigrants

“It’s no longer statistics, people’s humanity is right there in the room.”– Kirsten Wilson, MOTUS Theater.

This Sunday March 12th, there will be an opportunity to hear some autobiographical monologues performed by immigrants. These monologues are part of a body of work produced by MOTUS Theater.

It will feature autobiographical monologues written and performed by leaders in the community who are documented and undocumented about their immigrant experience. Elena Aranda from Programa Compañeras of El Centro Amistad, and Juan Juarez and Victor Galvan from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and Northern Colorado Dreamers United will perform autobiographical monologues they created as part of the Motus Theater monologue project.

Kirsten Wilson of MOTUS theater told KGNU’s Maeve Conran that after hearing their stories, the audience will break up into small groups to dive into deep conversation about the challenges immigrants are facing in our community.

“When you hear these stories you get insight into the ramifications of policies, the ramifications of inaction, the ramifications of what our country’s history has played out in different people’s lives and it allows you to have a shared, a more embodied sense of the issues at stake. It’s no longer statistics, people’s humanity is right there in the room.”

Wilson says that while there is more anxiety and fear amongst immigrant communities under the Trump administration, this fear of deportation is nothing new.

“MOTUS Theater started working with undocumented leaders in our community to help them write and perform their own stories way back in December 2012, because we have a big focus in our theatrical company on history and historical performances and if you know history you know that every time the economy goes down, or the gap between the wealthy and the poor increase it’s immigrants and particularly immigrants of color that are on the front line of attack. And so we were concerned that anti-immigrant vitriol was going to become worse. I don’t think any of us had in mind the dynamic that we’re seeing in the present administration, but under the Obama administration millions of immigrants were deported, so it’s been an ongoing struggle and it’s just being amplified by what’s happening in the current administration.”

Gather to Talk happens at 4.45pm at Congregation Nevei Kodesh in Boulder on Sunday March 12th.
If you wish to attend please RSVP to Joanna at : [email protected].