(Un)documents

HARTBEAT ENSEMBLE PRESENTS

(UN)DOCUMENTS

With a single phrase, you can give up your country. With a single signature, you can tear a family apart. With a single word, you can learn to transform. In their first full-length solo show, (Un)Documents, award-winning actor and poet Jesús I. Valles journeys across both sides of a river with two names, moving between languages to find their place as a child, a lover, a teacher, and a sibling in a nation that demands sacrifice at the altar of citizenship. In doing so, they create a new kind of documentation written with anger, fierce love, and the knowledge that what makes us human can never be captured on a government questionnaire.

(Un)Documents is an autobiographical play that charts Valles' childhood in Mexico, their eventual migration to the United States, their early life as an undocumented person and eventual naturalization, the sudden deportation of their older brother, and the aftermath of this devastating event.

Please note:  On Saturday, both the performance and moderated discussion (information below) will be in English with simultaneous Spanish translation.

HARTBEAT ENSEMBLE PRESENTA

(IN)DOCUMENTOS

Con una sola frase, se puede renunciar un país. Con una sola firma, se puede desbaratar a una familia. Con una sola palabra, se puede aprender a transformarse. En su primer solo de teatro de duración larga, (In)Documentos, el galardonado poeta y actor Jesús I. Valles viaja por ambas orillas de un río con dos nombres, transitando entre idiomas para hallar su lugar como niñe, amante, maestre, y hermane en una nación que demanda un sacrificio en el altar de la ciudadanía. Al hacerlo, crea una nueva forma de documentación, escrita con enojo, amor feroz, y el conocimiento que aquello que nos hace humano nunca se puede captar en un formulario de gobierno.

(In)Documentos es una obra autobiográfica que traza la juventud de Valles en México, su eventual migración a los Estados Unidos, su vida de joven persona indocumentada, su naturalización, la partida repentina de su hermano mayor, y las secuelas de este evento devastador.

Tenga en cuenta: el sábado, tanto la presentación como la discusión moderada (información a continuación) serán en inglés con traducción simultánea al español.

On Sat., Aug 19, please join HartBeat for the Just Kin Arts Festival, a celebration by and for queer and (im)migrant artists and organizers imagining and building a world beyond borders and binaries. We're featuring the voices and artwork of members of Hartford Deportation Defense, Vivan Las Autonomas, the Connecticut UndocuFund, and Husky for Immigrants. Varun Khattar Sharma and Danilo Machado, Producers

El sábado 19 de agosto, únase a HartBeat para el Just Kin Arts Festival, una celebración de y para artistas y organizadores queer e (in)migrantes que imaginan y construyen un mundo más allá de las fronteras y los binarios. Presentamos las voces y obras de arte de miembros de Hartford Deportation Defense, Vivan Las Autónomas, Connecticut UndocuFund y Husky for Immigrants. Varun Khattar Sharma y Danilo Machado, Productores 

About the Artist:

(Un)Documents is part of HartBeat Ensemble’s (im)Migration 360, a series of convenings, workshops, discussions, and performances interrogating the crises and joys and culture-building around the migration of people within the Americas and from other continents to Connecticut. HartBeat is developing an ever-evolving series of events that seeks to stimulate learning, promote healing and build stronger cross-cultural communities. This program is supported by CT Humanities and the Hartford Foundation for the Arts. Additional support for the Just Kin Festival is provided by the CT Black & Brown Student Union and the People's Saturday School.

(Un)Documents is funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies. Additional support is provided by the J. Bissell Foundation, CT Humanities, CT Office of the Arts, Department of Economic and Community Development, National Endowment for the Arts and Travelers. 

Support for Simultaneous Spanish Translation Saturday's performance and moderated conversation provided by Graustein Memorial Fund Grant.