Arts & Culture

Nuevo Mundo series by Teatro Dallas opens with an examination of environmental racism

KERA | By Azul Sordo

Published March 8, 2023 at 5:33 PM CST

Five people sit on stage. An image of a house is projected behind them. — (Left to right) Lucila Rojas, Tamika Sanders, Priscilla Rice, Ruben Arellano and Eduardo Velez III perform a staged reading of "Choke" for Teatro Dallas at Latino Cultural Center on March 4, 2023.

The staged reading series by Teatro Dallas continues this weekend. It premiered with “Choke” at the Dallas Latino CulturalCenter.

A new staged reading series called “Nuevo Mundo”, created in partnership with TeatroDallas, celebrates the global South with productions selected and directed by local creatives.

The series opened with their first production “Choke” on March 4 at the Dallas Latino Cultural Center.

A refinery fills the air with hazardous pollutants, threatening the health and livelihoods of those in its vicinity. Residents are faced with a grim decision: leave, or take a gamble with their lives. And for the most vulnerable among them, there is no choice but to stay.

Five people sit on stage in front of a projected image of a house. — (left to right) Lucila Rojas, Tamika Sanders, Priscilla Rice, Ruben Arellano, Eduardo Velez III perform a staged reading of "Choke" on March 4, 2023. "I do think the role of arts and activism is the opportunity to dream, to begin to question, to begin to ask for better things, to be getting to ask for other worlds to exist," Director Alexandra Hernandez said.

“Choke”, written by Los Angeles playwright Emilio Infante, follows a Latino family in SouthTexas as they grapple with the consequences of generational trauma, environmental racism, and machismo. Director Alexandra Hernandez, who is also the program manager for Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, says this play operates at an important intersection between the arts and activism.

“I'm hoping that it does spark something,” Hernandez said. “Even if it's just people learning more about what's going on in their communities, even if they don't get politically active, if they don't get connected to an organization—that they feel the importance of being educated.

teatro 4.jpeg — Attendees walk by a booth for the neighborhood association Singleton United/Unidos, after the reading of "Choke" at the Latino Cultural Center March 4, 2023. Members of the association held a community engagement panel after the reading, opening the discussion to actors and audience members.

Too often, matters of environmental justice are viewed with an observational eye rather than with meaningful concern. Hernandez said.

These are issues that disproportionately affect low-income families and communities of color, but that should alarm everyone. Hernandez aims to remove that disconnection through this work.

Two women and a man address an audience. — Leader of the Singleton United/Unidos group Janie Cisneros speaks at a community engagement panel following the staged reading of "Choke" at the Latino Cultural Center. "We live there day in and day out. We don't have a choice. This is what you're inhaling, and that we shouldn't take it," said Cisneros. "We should stand up to that, because that's not okay."

The reading was followed by a community engagement panel in which members of the neighborhood association Singleton United/Unidos addressed the underlying theme of environmental racism and its historical prevalence in West Dallas—particularly in their fight against the asphalt factory GAF.

“It becomes: what is happening in our communities? What is happening to the people that live next door to us?” Hernandez said. “It's the air that we breathe. It doesn't just stay in one zipcode.”

A man and a woman rest in chairs in a lobby. — Frank A. Valtierra (left) and his wife, Dorelia Valtierra, sit during the reception of "Choke" on March 4, 2023. Dorelia grew up in West Dallas, and Frank lived there for about 10 years. They resided about three miles from GAF. Frank says he walked away from the reading feeling hopeful about the future of environmental justice, and trusts that it is an issue the younger generation can take on.

Nuevo Mundo series continues for two more weeks at the Latino Cultural Center. 7 p.m.: complimentary wine reception; 7:30 p.m.: Reading begins.

March 11th, "Littlelamb," by Bella O’Brien, directed by Shyama Nithiananda

March 18th, "Noche y Niebla," by Jaime Chabaud, directed by Kike Castañeda. This production is presented in Spanish only.