New York Theater Group Tells Untold Stories
Thursday, 09 April 2009 00:00
Court transcripts, psychiatric assessments and interviews might not typically make up the foundation of a play, but official documents provided the backbone in presenting the story of Guatemalan immigrant Edgar, Chocoy-Guzman.
An audience nearly filled the University of Arizona's Gallagher Theater Mar. 31 to see the play, “De Novo, Part 1 – Li'l Silent,” presented by Houses on the Moon Theater Company from New York.
The play was based on the true story of Chocoy-Guzman, a boy who fled Guatemala at 14 to try to escape the gang life he became involved with at the age of 10.
Chocoy-Guzman's mother paid $7,000 to have her son illegally taken to the United States where he intended to turn his life around. Instead, he became involved with gang life again as a teenager in East Los Angeles.
When Chocoy-Guzman was detained by the Department of Homeland Security, his lawyer, Kim Salinas, stressed the boy's safety to the judge. If Chocoy-Guzman returned to Guatemala, she argued, he would surely be killed by his gang. Unaffected, the judge ordered Chocoy-Guzman to be deported.
Soon after returning to Guatemala, 16-year-old Chocoy-Guzman was shot and murdered by a member of his former gang.
The play's text was written in part using official documents and transcripts from Chocoy-Guzman's case, providing a documentary-type atmosphere in the play. The acts jump from court scenes to phone calls to interviews.
A court translator character, played by Paola Poucel, translated the English dialogue into Spanish throughout most of the play.
After the play, writer and director Jeffrey Solomon joined the cast onstage for a discussion. Also participating was Kara Hartzler, legal director and criminal immigration consultant for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.
Solomon said the theater company's goal is to tell stories that might otherwise go untold. Solomon desire to tell this type of story began after he started attending immigration court cases.
Emily Joy Weiner, the actress who played Salinas, said this project began as four stories in one play.
“There's just so much detail in each story,” Weiner said. “We decided to just choose one.”
Hartzler said immigration is an important issue because of how many people are affected.
“I wish I could say that Edgar's story is unique,” Hartzler said. “Unfortunately, I see this type of case five to 10 times a week.”
She added that in Chocoy-Guzman's case, the judge was allowed to consider granting asylum to the immigrant for safety reasons. However, an appeals court decided that gang threats are no longer a sufficient reason to grant asylum in U.S. courts.
The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project that Hartzler works for sees about 100 people on any given day. She said the project has about six lawyers for 3,000 people.
Audience members voiced frustration with the courts' handling of immigration issues. One audience member asked what citizens could do to help the issue.
Solomon stressed the importance of being aware and pressuring officials to do the right thing.
“People really can make changes,” Solomon said.
Here is a video of excerpts from the play:
Written by Cody Calamaio You are reading New York Theater Group Tells Untold Stories articles
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