This critical play anthology brings together twenty-three plays by seventeen playwrights from the Frontera/Borderlands of Texas and Mexico, offering readers the first-ever critical play anthology from this geographical region.
Perambulations preserves the invaluable work of the Teatro Chicano de Laredo through a compilation of comedies and dramas. Original bilingual plays are provided alongside their translation, as well as performance notes and accompanying scholarly discussion from Laurence Wensel. This collection continues the tradition of Chicano theatre, expanding upon its themes and focusing on the struggles of migration. By applying the critical lens of space, place, and non-place to each of the plays, the book explores movement, border issues, and reveals the universality of experience along the border. Grouped by location, the plays examine people, language, culture, and identity across Laredo (Texas), in-between places, imaginary spaces, land dramas, and returning home. The compilation challenges what it means to be a citizen of the Frontera/Borderlands and reveals migration to be an activity that is often undertaken without consideration.
This collection provides an invaluable contribution to students and scholars of Chicano and Latinx theatre and performance, as well as those interested in theatre of the borderlands.