1070 – Play About Living Through AZ Senate Bill 1070 for an Immigrant Family

1070 – Play About Living Through AZ Senate Bill 1070 for an Immigrant Family

PHOENIX – “1070”, a new play by James Garcia, premieres at the Herberger Theater Center on June 23 with performances running through July 9th.

In this full-length drama, Dulce Avila and her family faces life after the passage of the passage of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070.

“Ultimately, immigration is about the people it affects, and regrettably that’s often when folks start arguing over the topic,” said Garcia. “The play explores the consequences the law had on one family, as well as the wider community, including what happened in political and economic circles. I think most people today agree that SB 1070 put Arizona on the map for all the wrong reasons, and we’re still recovering from the black eye it left on our state’s reputation.”

The play stars Anna Flores, currently a student at Arizona State University, and a graduate of Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix. Flores began performing at Carl Hayden when she was 16.

“I’m so grateful to be a part of this production,” said Flores, “not only because I think it’s a great part and a great play, but because as Dulce Avila, my character, I find myself experiencing on stage many of the same experiences my own family and friends have gone through. The sad thing is that it seems to be happening all over again.”

The play will be staged over three weekends at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe in Phoenix. It opens in the KAX Theater June 23 to July 2. Then for the final weekend, July 8-10, “1070” will move to the larger Stage West venue in the Herberger to accommodate what Garcia predicts will be larger audiences, including some of the people registered to attend the annual National Council de La Raza (NCLR) convention in Phoenix.

Garcia said more than four thousand people are expected to register for the convention. NCLR, which was founded in Phoenix in 1969, is the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization.

After SB 1070 passed, NCLR, now based in Washington, D.C., led a national economic boycott against Arizona. NCLR President Janet Murguia has said the organization agreed to return to Arizona because of the progress the state has made countering the damaging effects of SB 1070.

“I think it says a lot that NCLR is willing to bring its convention to Arizona, even though we know things are far from perfect,” said Garcia. “For one thing, there’s the new wave of attacks aimed at immigrants by Trump. It remind us that immigration is a national and even global issue that’s unresolved. Sadly, there are literally millions of immigrants and their families who are living in fear thanks of Trump’s cruel and bigoted agenda. One of the things I hope this play does is speak not only to the extraordinary pain and damage that laws like 1070 wreake, but that good people in Arizona and around the country, many with very different backgrounds, have been willing over the years to fight back.”

Dates & Times: June 23 – July 9, 2017, Friday and Saturday night performances at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoon matinee, 2 p.m. The show is two hours and 15 minutes long.

Tickets are $15 to $25, and $5 off for students and seniors 65 and up. All NCLR convention registrants receive the discounted student/senior rate. 

To buy tickets: www.newcarpa.org

Opening Night Dinner Reception:  June 23 at 5:30 pm, Arizona Latino Arts Cultural Center, 147 E. Adams, Phoenix. The package is $40 which includes wine or beer and tickets to the show.  Catering provided by Chef Lorenzo Santillan.

Location: Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix, AZ 85004 (KAX Theater, June 23-July 2 and Stage West theater July 8-10, 2017)

Presented by: New Carpa Theater Co. (www.newcarpa.org) and Sociedad Activa (https://www.sociedadactiva.mx) in association with the Herberger Theater Center.