“It’s a bit of theatre, a bit of poetry, it mixes genres with testimonies,” Rubén Rodríguez told Prensa Latina a few minutes after the show ended.
The idea of the performance, written by Four Hands with Elia Arce, was to tell – as he said – “the story of the forced migration of Central American compatriots from the so-called Northern Triangle to this country”.
In particular – explained the writer, actor and professor from Los Angeles – in the 80s of the last century this area of Washington DC was inhabited by migrants from Guatemala and El Salvador.
He recalled an exodus that took place as a result of US interventions in the region, violating the will of the peoples.
“This forced migration is happening and ‘little Central America’ is settling across the United States and one of the most nourished communities was here in Washington DC,” he pointed out.
The inauguration of GALA (group of Latin American artists) took place this Sunday at the United Church of All Souls, located precisely “at the intersection of 16th Street, Harvard and Columbia Road, which was then like an axis of this little Central America,” added Rodríguez.
For his part, Arce noted that the work was done to honor the Sanctuary movement, which started in the 1980s at the time of the migratory wave in the United States.
At the same time, she said that the connection between art, spirituality and social justice is very important to her. “I always think those three elements are linked,” he said.
In addition to performances by Rodríguez and Arce, Little Central America (1984) featured performances by a group of well-known professional artists from the Washington metro area, such as Lilo González and Quique Avilés, as well as community activists such as Luci Murphy and Sonia Umanzor.
As a Salvadoran émigré at the time the work is set, Umanzor brought the testimony of her life to the stage. “It seemed like we were going to die on the way, but no,” he told the news outlet.
The work reveals many of our struggles, pain and suffering and also shows who we are: strength, energy, courage, the desire to keep fighting, so it remains a great hope, he added.
All Souls Church, Unitarian’s large ritual space converted into a theater space was the best location Teatro GALA could have chosen to open its 38th season.
Coincidentally, the Church was founded in 1821—the same year that the five Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica gained independence from the then Spanish metropolis.
Data from specialized organizations shows that the population of Central American immigrants in the United States has increased more than 10-fold since 1980 and by 25 percent since 2010.
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