Fronteras Americanas

By Guillermo Verdecchia

Fuelled by equal parts outrage, intelligence, and wit, Fronteras Americanas re-creates one person’s struggle to construct a home between two cultures, while exploding the images and constructs built up around Latinos and Latin America. This one-person play works through bold juxtapositions and satiric reference points: Simón Bolívar and Speedy Gonzales; Columbus and Fodor’s travel guides; Ricky Ricardo and the Latin Lover; ‘La Bamba’ and Placido Domingo; Carlos Fuentes and American made-for-TV drug-wars movies. Verdecchia twirls stereotypes and clichés, offers comparative histories, examines myths and mysticism, and provides lessons in language and dancing.

Production History

Fronteras Americanas was produced at Festival des Ameriques in 1993; it was produced at MTC in 94 and Vancouver Playhouse in 95. It was remounted at Soulpepper in 2011. It has been produced in the US and Australia.