Voices from Borderlands Theater: Activism, Resilience, and Community Engagement

Abstract

This dissertation explores the cultural, historical, and political contributions of Borderlands Theater, a pioneering organization that has consistently engaged with the Mexican origin community in Tucson, Arizona. In this work, I analyze how this theater organization has produced, captured, and enhanced significant challenges and moments related to the Mexican origin populace. This analysis examines Borderlands Theater’s interpretation of the pressing issues that this community has encountered. In other words, I examine how, through the art of theater, Borderlands Theater has offered the city of Tucson a means to discuss the matters of environmental injustice, social injustice, and cultural instability within the Mexican origin identity and community, all themes of which have been purposefully set on the periphery, ignored, and even erased.